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KIT CARSON. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON 



THE 



Great Western Hunter and Guide 



COMPRISING 



>&'ILD AND ROMANTIC EXPLOITS AS A HUNTER AND TRAPPER IN 
THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS; THRILLING ADVENTURES AND 
HAIRBREADTH ESCAPES AMONG THE INDIANS 
AND MEXICANS; HIS DARING AND INVALU- 
ABLE SERVICES AS A GUIDE TO SCOUT- 
ING AND OTHER PARTIES, ETC. 



WITH AN ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS GOVERNMENT 
EXPEDITIONS TO THE FAR WEST 



By CHARLES RURDETjT: 



WITH AN INTRODUCTION 

By G. mercer ADAM 



ILLUSTRATED 



THE PERKINS BOOK COMPAltTY, 
296 Broadway, New Yoke. 






THE LIBR/'RYOF 
C-ONGRESS. 

Two Copies Receiv»ir^ 

APR 10 190?^ 

Copyright Entry 
CLASS £U XXc. No, 

S '^^ t 2> ' 

COPY B. 



Copyright, 1902, 
By E. a. BRAINERD, 



PREFACE. 



In offering to the public a revised and com- 
plete history of the most remarkable of Amer- 
ican frontiersmen, we perform a pleasing task. 
All the attainable circumstances connected with 
his life, adventures and death are fully set 
forth, and we offer this in confidence as a re- 
liable authority for the reader. 

No one should hesitate to familiarize himself 
with the exploits of the subject of this volume. 
They evince a magnanimity and an uprightness 
of character that is rarely found in one leading 
so daring and intensely wild a life, and cannot 
but contribute their share of luster to the in- 
teresting records of the Far West. We regret 
that his modesty, equally proverbial with his 
daring, prompted him to withhold many of the 
exciting incidents of his career from the public. 

We have compiled a portion of this work 
from such official reports of his great skill, in- 
domitable energy, and unfaltering courage as 

iii 



iv PREFACE. 

have been communicated by Ms friend and com- 
mander, Colonel Fremont, who has invariably- 
awarded to him all the best attributes of man- 
hood, when opportunity afforded. Added to 
these, our hero had been prevailed upon by a 
few of his friends to communicate some of the 
records of the most important passages in his 
extraordinary and eventful life, which are em- 
bodied in this volume. 

His has indeed been a life of peculiarly ex- 
citing personal hazards, bold adventures, daiing 
coolness, and moral and physical courage, such 
as has seldom transpired in the world, and we 
have been greatly impressed, in its preparation, 
with the necessity for a thorough work of this 
kind. All are aware that the young, and even 
matured, often seek for books of wild adven- 
ture, and if those of an unhurtful and truthful 
character are not found, they are apt to betake 
themselves to trashy and damaging literature. 
In this view, this work has a purpose which, we 
trust, will commend it to every family through 
out the land. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER I. 

PAGE 

Hero of the narrative — from what race descended — his 
fame — theater of his exploits — nativity — his father eaii- 
grates to Missouri — father's occupation — Kit's appren- 
ticeship — dissatisfaction with his trade — joins an expe- 
dition to Santa Fe — surgical operation — Santa Fe, its 
situation, business, style of buildings, water, appear- 
ance, altitude, scenery, population — spends the winter 
at Taos — learns the Spanish language — joins a party 
bound to Missouri — returns to Santa Fe — becomes a 
teamster — El Paso, its grape culture, style of living of 
its people, name — youth of traveler — new occupation 
for the winter — becomes interpreter for a trader 1 

CHAPTER n. 

Chihuahua, cathedral, statues, public buildings, convent, 
mint, trade, age, population — Carson longs for the 
prairie — changes employment — returns to Taos — joins 
a party of hunters and trappers to punish the Indians — 
result of the affray — Indian style of fighting — method 
of trapping for beaver — beaver signs — setting the traps — 
bait — fastening the traps — caution in setting the traps. 9 

CHAPTER III. 

Carson's qualifications for a trapper — starts for California 
— desert in the route— Mohave Indians, non-intercourse 
with whites, appearances, dress, ornaments, painting 
their bodies, money— Mission San Gabriel, cattle. horses, 
sheep, mules, vineyards, income— other Missions in 

ill 



iy CONTENTS. 

PAGB 

California— when founded, laborers— Missions of Upper 
California— Missionary subscriptions— management of 
the fund— Commandante-general— the Monks— golden 
age of the Missions 17 

CHAPTER IV. 

New Mexico and Arizona— their desert prairies — Carson 
in California— traps on the San Joaquin— the valley of 
the Sacramento 28 

CHAPTER V. 

The Digger Indians, a description of them, and their 
mode of living — Carson's visit to a ranche in search of 
a cow — his journey to the camp with his prize 33 

CHAPTER VI. 

Carson at the Mission San Gabriel — recovers sixty stolen 
horses after a fight with the Indians — "Los Angeles" 
— climate of California 43 

CHAPTER VII. 

Visit to a ranche — likes California, but likes buffalo better 
— leaves Los Angeles, and traps on the Colorado — in a 
tight place, but gets out of it 54 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Trapping with Young upon the Colorado — captures cattle 
and horses from the Indians — goes to Santa Fe, disposes 
of furs, and sows his wild oats — coureurs des &ozs,travels, 
dress, habits — joins Mr. Fitzpatrick trapping among the 
Nez Perces — winters in the New Park — punishes the 
Crow Indians for horse-stealing — pursues and punishes 
robbers of a cac/ie— flies from a party of sixty Indians. 64 



CHAPTER IX. 

Hunts with two companions — saving his money — trading 
with Captain Lee — pursues an Indian horse-thief and 
recovers the horses without assistance — traps on the 
Laramie — fight with two grizzlies — description of the 



CONTENTS. 



grizzly bear, his food — traps among the Blackfeet — un- 
successful attempt to chastise Blackfeet horse-thieves — 
Carson is wounded— Bridger's pursuit without finding 
them 71 

CHAPTER X. 

Carson, recovered, attends summer rendezvous on Green 
River — description of the rendezvous — camp, traders, 
charges— British Fur Company — the Indians bringing 
in furs — appearance of Montreal at a fair for the Indians 
— trappers and traders from the States — purchases of 
the trappers, necessaries, luxuries, Indian wife 82 

CHAPTER XI. 

Green River rendezvous again — the backwoodsman — Car- 
son the peace-maker — Sherman the bully, his punish- 
ment -cause of the duel — trapping and parley with the 
Blackfeet — on Humboldt River — explores the desert — 
discovers the river afterwards named for him 90 



CHAPTER XII. 

Dreary prospect on the Humboldt — Humboldt Lake — sinks 
of others rivers — overflow of Humboldt Lake and River 
— station at the sink, the traders — Humboldt Indians — 
Fourth of July on the Humboldt— Humboldt sinking- 
land available for agriculture on this river 98 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Carson on the Humboldt — sufferings of the return party — 
Pyramid Circle — a horse purchased for food — buffalo 
hunt, meat jerked — horses stolen by the Indians — ex- 
tent of buffalo ranges — buffalo upon the Platte in 1857, 
numbers, trails crossing tlie river, animals killed 106 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Carson traps with a party of a hundred in the Blackfeet 
country — winter camp among the Crows — Indian lodges 
— winter life of the trappers — fight with the Blackfeet — 
Carson saves the life of a friend, dislodges the Indians 



Vi CONTENTS. 

PAOB 

from a rocky fastness, and compels their flight — no more 
molestation — the rendezvous — trade with the Navajos 
Indians — fort at Brown's Hole — goes again against the 
Blackfeet, a thousand warriors assemble, retire without 
an engagement — traps on the Salmon River — among the 
Blackfeet, another fight, leaves their country — Chinook 
apHd Flathead Indians — process of flattening the head. . 116 

CHAPTER XV. 

Carson continues trapping — the trade becomes unprofit- 
able — war of extermination upon the beaver, silk for 
hats prevents — Carson's experience enables him to aid 
one who should explore in behalf of science — knowledge 
of the country — comes to Bent's Fort, forsaking trapping 
— becomes hunter for the fort — his employers — his 
business — reputation as a hunter — fulfils the early 
hopes of him — knowledge of the country — regard shown 
him, especially by the Indians — diplomatist between the 
Sioux and the Caraanches — marriage — death of his wife 
takes his child to St. Louis for education — changes at 
his old home — reception at St. Louis — meets Colonel 
Fremont — engages to guide Fremont's exploring party 
to the South Pass in the Rocky Mountains 129 

CHAPTER XVL 

Fremont crosses the Ford of the Kansas — India-rubber 
boat — accident from overloading the boat — Carson ill — 
lies in camp on the prairie 143 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Road over rolling prairie — Pawnee countiy — false alarm 
of the presence of Indians — Carson rides to discover 
the cause — coast of the Platte River — party of trappers 
from Fort Laramie — one of this party joins Fremont's 
company — buffalo — appearance of the herds — feasting 
in the camp — Carson's mishap in the hunt — Carson, 
Maxwell, and Fremont join in the cliase 147 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Fremont divides his party — attempt to lasso a wild horse 
— Maxwell prevents an Indian attack — Indians on a 



CONTENTS. Vii 

PAOB 

buif alo hunt— return laden with meat — Cheyenne village 
— tripod support for their weapons — Fremont enter- 
tained by the chief — tribute to the Great Spirit on 
taking the pipe — Jim Beckwith — other settlers on the 
mountain streams — St. Vrain's Fort — Fort Laramie — 
Carson's camp — excitement in the company — hostile 
intentions of the Indians — preparations for continuing 
the explorations— one of the command dismissed 167 

CHAPTER XIX. 

The growth of Artemisia — fate of the Indian party so 
much dreaded — cache of wagons and other effects — 
value of Carson's aid to Fremont — propriety of calling 
this an exploring party — ascent to the South Pass — 
exploration up a tributary of Green River — lake at its 
source — continue to explore in the mountains — Fremont 
climbs the highest summit — why Carson was not with 
him 169 

CHAPTER XX. 

Party returns to Fort Laramie — Carson remains — mar- 
riage — joins Fremont — a second exploring expedition — 
object of tlie expedition — Great Salt Lake — Fremont's 
description — current impressions in regard to the lake 
— Beer Springs — Hot Springs — Standing Rock. ... .... 178 



CHAPTER XXI. 

A part of Fremont's men return East — leave Fort Hall, 
en route for the valley of the Columbia — difficulty of 
finding camping places — Carson kills buffalo — melan- 
choly looking country — crossing Snake River — fish-eat- 
ing Indians — refitting equipage at the Dalles — pro- 
posed return route — spirits of the party — Tlamath Lake 
— sufferings of the party 198 



CHAPTER XXH. 

Fremont's story of the difficulties and exposui-es of his 
party — hot springs — explorations for grass — mountain 
lake — central ridge of the Sierra Nevada — Indians — 
talks by signs — Indian guide — encouragement afforded 
by Carson's descriptions of California — ^provisions low— 



Viii CONTENTS. 

PAG8 

snow deep — animals weak — Indian harangue — guide 
deserts — Carson recognizes Sacramento valley and the 
coast range — taking the horses through the snow — sleds 
for the baggage— pine nuts the food of the Indians- 
glorious sunrise 207 

CHAPTER XXIII. 

Thunder storm— view of the Sacramento, and Bay of San 
Francisco — mauls to j^ath the snow — Carson saves Fre- 
mont from drowning— rapid river, snow, grass, pines, 
live oak, mistletoe — ^division of the party — Tiorses lost — 
members of the party wander, return — horses killed for 
food — country improving in beauty— arrival at Sutter's 
Fort — description of a cache 227 

CHAPTER XXIV. 

Carson at home in Toas — decides to commence farming — 
preparations — Fremont requests his service for a third 
expedition — meeting at Bent's Fort — head-waters — 
Great Salt Lake — expedition divides — Horse-Thief In- 
dians — the skirmish 240 



CHAPTER XXV. 

Arrival at Sutter's Fort — command of General Castro to 
leave the country — his march against Fremont — Fre- 
mont departs for Oregon — Indians instigated by the 
Mexicans, Fremont's march against them — he returns 
to California — another Indian fight 254 

CHAPTER XXVI. 

Loss to Fremont's party — Carson's attack upon Indian 
village — start for the Sacramento — Fremont's campaign 
against the Mexicans — captures Sonoma — calls Amer- 
ican settlers into his service — General Castro leaves San 
Francisco — Fremont garrisons Sutter's Fort — marches 
to Monterey — Commodore Sioat in possession — hoists 
the flag of the United States 263 

CHAPTER XXVIL 
Fremont marches on, and occupies Los Angeles — ap- 



CONTENTS. ix 

PAOB 

pointed Governor of California — Carson starts for Wash- 
ington as bearer of despatches — unexpected meeting 
with Apache Indians — meets the expedition of General 
Kearney — returns to California as guide 270 

CHAPTER XXVIII. 

March to California — Mexicans intercept Kearney's troops 
— American attack on the Mexican force— disastrous 
result — Carson and Lieutenant Beale reach San Diego — 
reinforcements sent by Commodore Stockton — capture 
of Los Angeles — Mexicans surrender to Fremont — want 
of harmony in the American camps 275 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Graphic description of the entrance into Monterey, of 
Fremont, Carson, and party — indiscretions of American 
officers — Kearney's despatch to the War Department — 
Fremont's extraordinary ride „ . . . 293 



CHAPTER XXX. 

Fremont visits his Mariposa purchase — grand hunt and 
ball — the fandango — Carson and Beale ordered to Wash- 
ington — kind reception — appointed to a lieutenancy — 
encounter with Camanches — arrival at Los Angeles — 
sent to the Tejon Pass — again to Washington — arrival 
at home — the warlike Apaches — Carson entertains Fre- 
mont and suffering explorers 307 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

Dreadful sufferings endured by Fremont and party— error 
in engaging a guide— Fremont's letter to his wife— hor- 
rible details 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

Mr. Carvalho's narrative— cravings of hunger— disgusting 
food considered a delicacy — death of Mr. Fuller — Car- 
son joins Colonel Beale as guide — the Apache and Ca- 
manche Indians 334 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER XXXTTT. 

PAGE 

Carson and Maxwell's settlement— exploits in defense of 
his neighbors — encounter with the Cheyennes — rescue. . 343 

CHAPTER XXXIY. 

Grand trapping expedition — the Mountain Parks — Pike's 
Peak — Carson drives sheep to California — San Francisco 
— appointed Indian Agent — habits — services in New 
Mexico — his death at Fort Lyon- summing up 355 



INTKODUCTOEY NOTE. 



What our modern age owes to men of the type of 
Christopher (Kit) Carson as an early explorer and 
guide in the Far West, when that region was but lit- 
tle known, and as a hunter and trapper when the 
recesses of the country were the abode almost entirely 
of wild beasts and equally wild and savage tribes, 
we are not always mindful of, though their history 
forms a heroic and fascinating part of the national 
annals. A marvellous change has now come over the 
scenes of the exploits of these early Western scouts 
and frontiersmen. Even ^N'ature has experienced a 
transformation : the wild and wondrous life of those 
rough days has suffered a change; its savage charms 
have in the main disappeared, for the mountain lion 
is now rarely met with, while the grizzly bear, as 
Parkman tells us, " has shrunk from the face of man. 
His ferocious strength is now no match for the re- 
peating rifle: he seeks the seclusion of his den, and 
has grown diffident and abated the truculence of his 
more prosperous days. In place, moreover, of In- 
dian tepees, with their trophies of dangling scalp- 
locks, we have now towns and cities, and the resorts 
of health and of pleasure-seekers." 

xi 



xii INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

The story of Colonel Carson's intrepid life and 
labors as mountaineer, trapper, and guide, related 
by Mr. Burdett in the following pages, is full of 
thrilling incident. The narrative includes the story 
of his many Indian fights with Blackfeet, Comanches, 
Utes, ISTavajoes, and Cheyennes, and his important 
services in conducting General Fremont's various ex- 
peditions across the Eocldes into California, and 
afterwards in acting as agent for the United States 
Government in 'Ne\Y Mexico, Colorado, and Indian 
Territory, and in the Civil War in expeditions 
against the Confederates in Texas, and finally in 
making peace with the I^avajo Indians. All this is 
told with graphic force and realistic description, as 
are the early accounts of Carson's exciting buffalo 
hunts, exploits in trapping and in the pursuit of the 
fur trade, and his keen zest and adventurous experi- 
ences in exterminating beaver. 'Not without interest, 
also, are the famous himter's many trading ventures, 
including the purchase of some thousand sheep from 
the ^Navajo Indians and proceeding with them to 
Fort Laramie, thence, by way of the regular emi- 
grant route to Salt Lake, across the mountains, on 
the farther side of which he disposes of them in Cali- 
fornia. Hardly less is the interest of the narrative 
in treating of Carson's career as an officer in the 
United States service during the Mexican war, as 
well as in the Civil War, in the latter of which he 
was rewarded with a brevet brigadier generalship. 
But perhaps most important of all was the aid he 
gave the National Government in his relations with 



INTRODUCTORY NOTE. xiii 

the Indians of the Far West, whose tongue he spoke, 
aixf was well known to, and feared by, them as a \ 
/mighty Indian fighter, though a man who could at j 
f the same time make a favorable peace with them, i 
I when the war-hatchet was thrown down and the ealu- / 
I met of peace was smoked by the smouldering camp- 
\ fire. Throughout his early career in the then wilder- 
ness stretches of Missouri, and in his adventurous 
roving life on the Plains, Carson's experience taught 
the great frontiersman many things of much bene- 
fit to him later on; but chiefly it developed in him\ 
/mighty resources and phenomenal self-reliance, be-/ 
I sides physical courage and hardihood, and gained foj/\ 
Vhim the knack of picking up an intimate knowledge/ 
of Indian ways, and especially of the guile of native 
hostiles, that was subsequently of infinite service in 
his strenuous, diversified, and useful career. Added 
to these characteristics he had the virtues of honor, 
uprightness, and kindly feeling, as well as a frank 
manner and transparent truthfulness, which had 
their influence on all he came across, and, when death 
came to him, at Fort Lyon, Colorado, in May, 1868, 
won for his memory the benediction of those who 
best knew him. 

G. Meecek Adam. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTEE I. 



As, for their intrepid boldness and stern 
truthfulness, the exploits and deeds of the old 
Danish sea-kings hav^e, since the age of Canute, 
been justly heralded in song and story ; so now, 
by the world-wide voice of the press, this, their 
descendant, as his name proves him, is brought 
before the world : and as the stern integrity 
of the exploits and deeds of the old Danes in 
the age of Canute were heralded by song and 
story ; so too, in this brief and imperfect mem- 
oir, are those of one who by name and birth- 
right claims descent from them. The subject 
of the present memoir, Christopher Carson, 
familiarly known under the appellation of Kit 
Carson, is one of the most extraordinary men 
of the present era. His fame has long been 
established throughout this country and Europe, 
as a most skilful and intrepid hunter, trap- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



per, guide, and pilot of the prairies and moun- 
tains of the far West, and Indian fighter. But 
his celebrity in these characters is far surpassed 
/by that of his individual personal traits of 
/ courage, coolness, fidelity, kindness, honor, and 
Y friendship. The theater of his exploits is ex- 
tended throughout the whole western portion 
of the territory of the United States, from the 
Mississippi to the Pacific, and his associates 
have been some of the most distinguished men 
of the present age, to all of whom he has be- 
come an object of affectionate regard and marked 
respect. The narrative which follows will show 
his titles to this distinction, so far as his modesty 
(for the truly brave are always modest) has 
permitted the world to learn anything of his 
history. 

It appears, from the various declarations of 
those most intimate with Christopher Carson, as 
well as from a biography published a number 
of years before his death, that he was a native 
of Madison County, Kentucky, and was born on 
the 24th of December, 1809. Colonel Fremont 
in his exhaustive and interesting Keport of his 
Exploring Expedition to Oregon and North 
California, in 1843-44, says that Carson is a 
native of Boonslick County, Missouri ; and from 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 3 

his long association with the hunter, he prob- 
ably makes the statement on Carson's own 
authority. The error, if it is an error, may 
have arisen from the fact stated by Mr. Peters, 
that Carson's father moved from Kentucky to 
Missouri, when Christopher was only one year 
old. He settled in what is now Howard 
County, in the central part of Missouri. 

At the time of Mr. Carson's emigration, Mis- 
souri was called Upper Louisiana, being a part 
of the territory ceded to the United States by 
France in 1803, and it became a separate State, 
under the name of Missouri, in 1821. When 
Mr. Carson removed his family from Kentucky, 
and settled in the new territory, it was a wild 
region, naturally fertile, thus favoring his views 
as a cultivator ; abounding in wild game, and 
affording a splendid field of enterprise for the 
hunter, but infested on all sides with Indians, 
often hostile, and always treacherous. 

As Mr. Carson united the pursuits of farmer 
and hunter, and lived in a sort of blockhouse 
or fort, as a precaution against the attacks of 
the neighboring Indians, his son became accus- 
tomed to the presence of danger, and the ne- 
cessity of earnest action and industry from his 
earliest childhood. 



4 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

At the age of fifteen, Kit Carson was ap- 
prenticed to Mr. Workma'D, a saddler. This 
trade requiring close confinement was, of 
course, utterly distasteful to a boy already ac- 
customed to the use of the rifle, and the stir- 
ring pleasures of the hunter's life, and at the 
end of two years, his apprenticeship was ter- 
minated, for Kit, who, with his experience as 
the son of a noted hunter, himself perfectly 
familiar with the rifle, and, young as he was, 
acknowledged to be one of the best and surest 
shots, even in that State, where such merit pre- 
dominated at that time over almost every other, 
could not bear in patience the silent, sedentary 
monotony of his life, voluntarily abandoned the 
further pursuit of the trade, and sought the 
more active employment of a trader's life. 

His new pursuit was more congenial. He 
joined an armed band of traders in an expedi- 
tion to Santa Fe* the capital of New Mexico. 
This, at that period, (1826,) was rather a peril- 
ous undertaking, on account of the Indian 
tribes who were ever ready to attack a trading 
caravan, when there was any prospect of over- 
coming it. No attack was made on the party, 
however, and no incident of importance oc- 
curred, if we except the accident to one of the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 5 

teamsters who wounded himself by carelessly 
handling a loaded rifle, so as to render it nec- 
essary to amputate his arm. In this operation 
Carson assisted, the surgical instruments being 
a razor, an old saw, and an iron bolt heated 
red hot, in order to apply the actual cautery. 
Notwithstanding this rough surgery, the man 
recovered.* 

In November (1826) the party arrived at 
Sante Fe* the capital, and the largest town in 
the then Mexican province of New Mexico. 
This place is situated on the Rio Chiuto, or 
Santa Fe' river, an affluent of the Kio Grande, 
from which it is distant about 20 miles. It 
was then, as now, the great emporium of the 
overland trade, which, since 1822, has been car- 
ried on with the State of Missouri. The houses 
are chiefly built of adobes^ or nnburnt bricks, 
each dwelling forming a square, with a court in 
the center upon which the apartments open. 
This mode of building, originally Moorish, pre- 
vails in all the colonies settled by the Spaniards, 
as well as in Old Spain, and the oriental coun- 
tries. It makes each house a sort of fortress, as 
General Taylor's troops learned to their cost at 

♦ Peters. 



6 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

the seige of Monterey. The front entrance of 
each house is large enough to admit animals 
with their packs. 

Santa Fe' is well supplied with cool water 
from springs within its limits, and from foun- 
tains above the city near the neighboring moun- 
tain. The appearance of the place is inviting 
and imposing, as it stands on a plateau elevated 
more than 7,000 feet above the sea, and near a 
snow-capped mountain, which rises 5,000 feet 
above the level of the town ; but the population 
is said to be exceedingly depraved. The pres- 
ent population is about 5,000 ; but at the time 
of Carson's first visit, it was comparatively a 
small town. 

Soon after their arrival at Santa Fe, Carson 
left the trading band, which he had joined when 
he abandoned the saddlery business, or trade, 
as the reader may choose to term it, and of 
which we have pre^dously spoken, and pro- 
ceeded to Fernandez de Taos. In this place 
Carson passed the winter of 1826-7, at the 
house of a retired mountaineer. And it was 
while residing there, that he acquired that thor- 
ough familiarity with the Spanish language, 
which, in after years, proved of such essential 
service to him. In the spring he joined a party 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 7 

bound for Missouri, but meeting another band 
of Santa Fe' traders, lie joined them and returned 
to that place. Here his services being no longer 
required by the traders, he was again thrown 
out of employment. He now engaged himself 
as teamster to a party bound to El Paso, a set- 
tlement, or more properly a line of settlements, 
embracing a population of about 5,000, situated 
in the rich, narrow valley which extends 9 or 10 
miles along the right bank of the Rio Grande, 
in the Mexican State of Chihuahua, 350 miles S. 
by W. of Santa Fe'. Here the grape is exten- 
sively cultivated, and considerable quantities of 
light wine and brandy (called by the traders 
Pass wine and Pass brandy) are made. The 
houses are like those of Santa Fe' built of 
adobes with earthen floors. With abundance 
of natural advantages, the people are content to 
live without those appliances of civilized life, 
considered indispensable by the poorest Amer- 
ican citizens. Glazed windows, chairs, tables, 
knives and forks, and similar every day con- 
veniences are unknown even to the rich among 
the people of El Paso. The place is the chief 
emporium of the trade between New Mexico 
and Chihuahua, and its name, " the passage " is 
derived from the passage of the river through a 



g LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

gorge or gap in the mountain just above the 
town. 

On his arrival at this place, young Carson 
might justly be considered in view of his age 
(not yet 18), more than an ordinary traveler. 
He had arrived at a spot where everything was 
strange to him. New people, new customs, a 
new climate, a wine country, a population of 
mixed breed, half Indian, half Spaniard — every- 
thing wearing a foreign aspect; everything 
totally different from his home in Missouri. 

He did not remain long in this place, but re- 
turned to Santa Fe', whence he again found his 
way to Taos, where he passed the winter in the 
service of Mr. Ewing Young, in the humble 
capacity of cook ; this he soon forsook for the 
more pleasant and profitable position of Spanish 
interpreter to a trader named Tramell, with 
whom he, for the second time, made the long 
journey to El Paso and Chihuahua. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER n. 

Chihttahua, where Carson had now arrived, 
is the capital of the Mexican province bearing 
the same name. It is situated on a small trib- 
utary of the Conchos Kiver, in the midst of a 
plain. It is regularly laid out and well built ; 
the streets are broad and some of them paved. 
Like other cities built by the Spaniards, it has 
its great public square, or Plaza Major, on one 
side of which stands the cathedral, an imposing 
edifice of hewn stone, built at a cost of $300,- 
000. It is surmounted with a dome and two 

towers, and has a handsome facade with statues 

* 

of the twelve apostles, probably the first stat- 
ues that Carson had ever seen. Other public 
buildings surround the square, and there is a 
fountain in the middle. The city contains a 
convent founded by the Jesuits, and an aque- 
duct 3i miles long, supported by vast arches 
and communicating with the river Chihuahua. 
It has also its mint, and in the neighborhood 
are silver mines with furnaces for melting the 



10 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

ore. It carries on an extensive trade with the 
United States by means of caravans to St. Louis 
in Missouri, and San Antonio in Texas. It was 
founded in 1691, and during the time when the 
silver mines were in successful operation, it con- 
tained 70,000 inhabitants. The population at 
present is 14,000. 

As he had come with one of the trading car- 
avans in the ser\^ce of Colonel Tramell as 
Spanish interpreter, we might naturally expect 
that the engagement would be a permanent one. 
But such was not the case. The monotony of 
this life soon disgusted him, and after weary 
weeks passed in comparative idleness, he longed 
again for the freedom of the prairie and the 
forest, and gladly abandoning the rather digni- 
fied position of interpreter to Colonel Tramell, 
entered into the service of Mr. Robert M. 
Knight, in the more humble capacity of team- 
ster in an expedition to the copper mines on the 
river Gila, whence he soon after found his way 
back to Taos. 

It was during this visit to Taos that Carson 
was first enabled to gratify the desire which he 
had long entertained of becoming a regular 
hunter and trapper. A party of trappers in the 
service of Carson's old friend, Mx. Ewing Young, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. H 

had returned to Taos, having been beaten off 
from their hunting and trapping grounds by a 
hostile band of Indians. Mr. Young raised a 
party of forty men, for the double purpose of 
chastising the Indians, and resuming the busi- 
ness of trapping, and Carson joined them. The 
fact that he was accepted for this service was a 
marked token of esteem for his valor, as well as 
his skill in hunting, parties of this description 
always avoiding the enlistment of inexperienced 
recruits, as likely to embarrass their operations 
in the field. 

The ostensible object of the expedition was 
to punish the Indians, but its ultimate purpose 
was to trap for beavers. The Mexicans by an 
express law had forbidden granting licenses to 
any American parties, and in this instance a 
circuitous route was chosen to conceal their real 
design. 

They did not fall in with the Indians of whom 
they were in pui^uit, until they had reached 
the head of one of the affluents of the Rio Gila, 
called Salt River. Once in presence of their 
enemies they made short work with them, kill- 
ing fifteen of their warriors, and putting the 
whole band to rout. Such occurrences were by 
no means unfrequent, as we shall see in the 



12 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

course of this narrative. A small body of 
experienced hunters and trappers, confident in 
their superior skill and discipline, never hesi- 
tates to attack a greatly superior number of 
Indians, and it was a rare thino^ that success 
did not attend their daring. The Indian is not 
fond of a "fair stand-up fight." He prefers 
stratagem and ambush, and reverences as a 
great " brave" the warrior who is most success- 
ful in circumventing his enemies, and bringing 
off many scalps without the loss of a man ; but 
when a considerable number of Indians are 
shot down in the first onset, the remainder 
are very apt to take to flight in every direc- 
tion. 

We have said that Carson joined the party 
of trappers under the command of Mr. Ewing 
Young, and it may not be out of place to de- 
scribe briefly the mode of life which parties in 
that pursuit have to adopt, with a few remarks 
upon the habits and haunts of the animal, for 
whose sake men were then so willing to risk 
their lives, and to undergo such hardships. 

The method of trapping for beaver formerly 

employed by the trappers in the western coun- 

■'^Hry is thus described by one who has had con- 

sidei*able experience in the art ; and we quote 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. I3 

it as illustrating the severe training to which 
C^Yson had voluntarily subjected himself : 

(''' " To be a successful trapper, required gi^eat \ 
caution as well as a perfect knowledge of the / 
habits of the animal. The residence of the/ 
beaver was often discovered by seeing bits of 
green wood, and gnawed branches of the bass- 
wood, slippery elm, and sycamore, their favor- 
ite food, floating on the water, or lodged on 
the shores of the stream below, as well as by 
their tracks or foot-marks. These indications 
were technically called heaver sign. They were 
also sometimes discovered by their dams, 
thrown across creeks and small sluggish streams, 
forming a pond in which were erected their 
habitations. 

" The hunter, as he proceeded to set his traps, 
generally approached by water, in his canoe. 
He selected a steep, abrupt spot in the bank 
of the creek, in which a hole was excavated 
with his paddle, as he sat in the canoe, suffi- 
ciently large to hold the trap, and so deep as 
to be about three inches below the surface of 
the water, when the jaws of the trap were ex- 
panded. About two feet above the trap, a 
stick, three or four inches in length, was stuck 
in the bank In the upper end of this, the 



14 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

trapper excavated a small liole with his knife, 
into wMcli lie dropped a small quantity of the 
essence, or perfume, which was used to attract 
the beaver to the spot. This stick was attached 
by a string of horse hair to the trap, and with 
it was pulled into the water by the beaver. 
The reason for this was, that it might not re- 
main after the trap was sprung, and attract 
other beavers to the spot, and thus prevent their 
going to where there was another trap ready 
for them. 

" The scent, or essence, was made by min- 
gling the fresh castor of the beaver, with an ex- 
tract of the bark of the roots of the spice-bush, 
and kept in a bottle for use. The making of 
this essence was held a profound secret, and 
often sold for a considerable sum to the younger 
trappers, by the older proficients in the mys- 
tery of beaver hunting. Where they had no 
proper bait, they sometimes made use of the 
fresh roots of sassafras, or spice-bush ; of both 
these the beaver was very fond. 

" It is said by old trappers that they will 
smell the well-prepared essence the distance of 
a mile. Their sense of smell is very acute, or 
they would not so readily detect the vicinity of 
man by the smell of his trail. The aroma of 



LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 15 

the essence having attracted the animal into the 
vicinity of the trap, in his attempt to reach it, 
he has to climb up on to the bank where it is 
sticking. This effort leads him directly over 
the trap, and he is usually taken by one of the 
fore legs. The trap was connected by a chain 
of iron, six feet in length, to a stout line made 
of the bark of the leathei^wood, twisted into a 
neat cord, of fifteen or twenty feet. These were 
usually prepared by the trappers at home or at 
their camps, for cords of hemp or flax were 
scarce in the days of beaver hunting. The end 
of the line was secured to a stake driven into 
the bed of the creek under water, and in his 
struggles to escape, the beaver was usually 
drowned before the arrival of the trapper. 
Sometimes, however, he freed himself by gnaw- 
ing off his own leg, though this was rarely the 
case. If there was a prospect of rain, or it was 
raining at the time of setting the trap, a leaf, 
generally of sycamore, was placed over the 
essence stick, to protect it from the rain. 

" The beaver being a very sagacious and cau- 
tious animal, it required great care in the trapper 
in his approach to its haunts to set his traps, that 
no scent of his feet or hands was left on the 
earth, or bushes that he touched. For this rea- 



16 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

son he generally approached in a canoe. If lie 
had no canoe, it was necessary to enter the 
stream thirty or forty yards below, and walk in 
the water to the place, taking care to return in 
the same manner, lest the beaver should take 
alarm and not come near the bait, as his feai* of 
the vicinity of man was greater than his sense 
of appetite for the essence. It also required 
caution in kindling a fire near their haunts, as 
the smell of smoke alarmed them. The firing 
of a gun, also, often marred the sport of the 
trapper, and thus it will be seen that to make a 
successful beaver hunter, required more qualities 
or natural gifts than fall to the share of most 
men." 



JLU^Ji OF KIT OAJ^QN. 17 



CHAPTER EL 

Carson's previous habits and pursuits tad 
eminently qualified him to become an useful 
and even a distinguished member of Mr. Young's 
company of trappers. He had lived in the 
midst of danger from his childhood. He was 
familiar with the use of arms ; and several yeai*s 
of travel and adventure had already given him 
more knowledge of the western wilds in the 
neighborhood of the region which was the scene 
of their present operations, than was possessed 
b/ many who had seen more years than himself. / 
Added to this, he had become well acquainted / 
/with the peculiar character and habits of tlie'^ 
\westem Indians, who were now prowling around 
their camp, and occasionally stealing their traps, 
game, and animals. 

The party pursued their business successfully 
for some time on the Salt and San Francisco 
rivers, when a part of them returned to New 
Mexico, and the remainder, eighteen in number, 
under the lead of Mr. Young, started for the 



18 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

valley of Sacramento, California, and it was to 
this latter party Carson was attached. Their 
route led them through one of the dry deserts 
of the country, and not only did they suifer 
considerably from the want of water, but their 
provisions giving out, they were often happy 
when they could make a good dinner on horse- 
flesh. Near the Canon of the Colorado they 
encountered a party of Mohave Indians, who 
furnished them with some provisions, which 
relieved them from the apprehension of imme- 
diate want. 

The Mohave Indians are thus described by a 
recent visitor : 

''These Indians are probably in as wild a 
state of nature as any tribe on American terri- 
toiy. They have not had sufficient intercourse 
with any civilized people, to acquire a knowl- 
edge of their language, or their vices. It was 
said that no white party had ever before passed 
through their country without encountering 
hostilities ; nevertheless they appear intelligent, 
and to have naturally amiable dispositions. 
The men are tall, erect, and well-proportioned ; 
their features inclined to European regularity ; 
their eyes large, shaded by long lashes, and 
suri'ounded by circles of blue pigment, that add 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 19 

to their apparent size. The apron, or breech- 
cloth for men, and a short petticoat, made of 
strips of the inner bark of the cotton-wood, for 
women, are the only articles of dress deemed in- 
dispensable ; but many of the females have long 
robes, or cloaks, of fur. The young girls wear 
beads; but when married, their chins are tat- 
tooed with vertical blue lines, and they wear a 
necklace with a single sea-shell in front, curiously 
wrought. These shells are very ancient, and 
esteemed of great value. 

''From time to time they rode into the\ 
Camp, mounted on spirited horses ; their bodies 
/and limbs painted and oiled, so as to present the 
/ appearance of highly-polished mahogany. The 
dandies paint their faces perfectly black. War- 
riors add a streak of red across their forehead, 
nose, and chin. Their ornaments consist of 
leathern bracelets, adorned with bright buttons, 
and worn on the left arm ; a kind of tunic, 
made of buckskin fringe, hanging from the 
shoulders ; beautiful eagles' feathers, called 
'sormeh' — sometimes white, sometimes of a 
crimson tint — tied to a lock of hair, and floating 
from the top of the head ; and, finally, strings 
of wampum, made of circular pieces of shell, 
with holes in the center, by which they are 



20 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

strung, often to the length of several yards, and 
worn in coils about the neck. These shell 
beads, which they call ' pook,' are their substitute 
for money, and the wealth of an individual is 
estimated by the 'pook ' cash he possesses. 

Soon after leaving the Mohave Indians, Mr. 
Young's party, proceeding westward, arrived 
at the Mission of San Gabriel. This is one of 
these extensive establishments formed by the 
Eoman Catholic clergy in the early times of 
California, which form so striking a feature in 
the country. This Mission of San Gabriel, 
about the time of Carson's visit, was in a flourish- 
ing condition. By statistical accounts, in 1829, 
it had 70,000 head of cattle, 1,200 horses, 
3,000 mares, 400 mules, 120 yoke of working 
cattle, and 254,000 sheep. From the vineyards 
of the mission were made 600 barrels of wine, 
the sale of which produced the income of up- 
wards of $12,000. There were between twenty 
and thirty such missions in California at that 
time, of which San Gabriel was by no means 
the largest. They had all been founded since 
1769, when the first San Diego, was established. 
The labor in these establishments was per- 
formed by Indians converts, who received in 
return a bare support, and a very small modi- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 21 

cum of what was called religious instruction. 
Each mission had its Catholic priest, a few 
Spanish or Mexican soldiers, and hundreds, 
sometimes thousands of Indians. 

The following interesting account of those of 
Upper California, we transcribe from a recent 
work of high authority.* 

" The missions of Upper California were in- 
debted for their beginning and chief success to 
the subscriptions which, as in the case of the 
missionary settlements of the lower province, 
were largely bestowed by the pious to promote 
so grand a work as turning a great country to 
the worship of the true God. Such subscrip- 
tions continued for a long period, both in Old 
and New Spain, and were regularly remitted 
to the City of Mexico, where they were formed 
into what was called ' Tlie Pious Fund of Cali- 
fornia? This fund was managed by the con- 
vent of San Fernando and other trustees in 
Mexico, and the proceeds, together with the 
annual salaries allowed by the Crown to the 
missionaries, were transmitted to California. 
Meanwhile, the Spanish court scarcely interfered 

* Annals of San Francisco. By Frank Soule, John H. 
Gihon, and James Nisbet. New York, D. Appleton & 
Co., 1855. 



22 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

with the temporal government of the country. 
It was true that some of the ordinary civil offi- 
ces and establishments were kept up ; but this 
was only in name, and on too small a scale to 
be of any practical importance. A comman- 
dante-general was appointed by the Crown to 
command the garrisons of the presidios ; but as 
these were originally established solely to pro- 
tect the missions from the dreaded violence of 
hostile Indians, and to lend them, when neces- 
sary, the carnal arm of offense, he was not al- 
lowed to interfere in the temporal rule of the 
Fathers. He resided at Monterey, and his an- 
nual salary was four thousand dollars. 

"In every sense of the word, then, these 
monks were practically the sovereign rulers of 
California — passing laws affecting not only 
property, but even life and death — declaring 
peace and war against their Indian neighbors 
— I'egulating, receiving, and spending the 
finances at discretion — and, in addition, drawing 
large annual subsidies not only from the pious 
among the faithful over all Christendom, but 
even from the Spanish monarchy itself, almost 
as a tribute to .their being a superior state. 
This surely was the golden age of the missions 
— a contented, peaceful, believing people, abun- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 23 

dant wealth for all their wants, despotic will, 
and no responsibility but to their own con- 
sciences and heaven ! Their horn was filled to 
overflowing ; but soon an invisible and mer- 
ciless hand seized it, and slowly and linger- 
ingly, as if in malicious sport, turned it over, 
and spilled the nectar of their life upon the 
wastes of mankind, from whence it can never 
again be collected. The golden age of another 
race has now dawned, and with it the real 
prosperity of the country. 

" The missions were originally formed on the 
same general plan, and they were planted at 
such distances from each other as to allow 
abundant room for subsequent development. 
They were either established on the sea-coast, 
or a few miles inland. Twenty or thirty miles 
indeed seems all the distance the missionaries 
had proceeded into the interior ; beyond which 
narrow belt the country was unexplored and 
unknown. Each mission had a considerable 
piece of the best land in the neighborhood set 
aside for its agricultural and pastoral purposes, 
which was commonly about fifteen miles square. 
But besides this selected territory, there was 
generally much more vacant land lying between 
the boundaries of the missions, and which, as 



24 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

the increase of their stocks required more space 
for grazing, was gradually occupied by the 
flocks and herds of the Fathers, nearest to 
whose mission lay the previously unoccupied 
district. Over these bounds the Fathers con- 
ducted all the operations of a gigantic farm. 
Their cattle generally numbered from ten 
thousand to twenty thousand and their sheep 
were nearly as numerous — though some mis- 
sions had upwards of thrice these numbers — 
which fed over perhaps a hundred thousand 
acres of fertile land. 

" Near the center of such farms were placed 
the mission buildings. These consisted of the 
church — which was either built of stone, if that 
material could be procured in the vicinity, or 
of adobes^ which are bricks dried in the sun ; 
and was as substantial, large, and richly deco- 
rated an erection as the means of the mission 
would permit, or the skill and strength of their 
servants could construct. In the interior, pic- 
tures and hangings decorated the walls ; while 
the altars were ornamented with marble pillars 
of various colors, and upon and near them 
stood various articles of massy gold and silver 
plate. A profusion of gilding and tawdry 
sparkling objects caught and pleased the eye 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 25 

of the simple congregations. Around, or be- 
side the church, and often in the form of a 
square, were grouped the habitations of the 
Fathers and their household servants, and the 
various granaries and workshops of the people ; 
while, at the distance of one or two hundred 
yards, stood the huts of the Indians. The for- 
mer buildings were constructed of adobes^ and 
covered with brick tiles, frail and miserable 
materials at the best. The huts of the Indians 
were occasionally made of the same materials, 
but more commonly were formed only of a few 
rough poles, stuck in the ground, with the 
points bending towards the center like a cone, 
and were covered with reeds and grass. An 
adobe wall of considerable height sometimes en- 
closed the whole village. The direction of the 
affairs of the settlement was in the hands of 
one of the Fathers, originally called a president, 
but afterwards Si> prefect ; and each prefect was 
independent in his own mission, and practically 
supreme in all its temporal, and nearly in all its 
spiritual matters, to any human authority. 

" Thus the Fathers might be considered to 
have lived something in the style of the patri- 
archs of the days of Job and Abraham. They 
indeed were generally ignorant and unlettered 



26 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

men, knowing little more tlian the mechanical 
rites of their church, and what else their man- 
uals of devotion and the treasuries of the lives 
of the saints taught them ; but they seem to have 
been personally devout, self-denying, and benef- 
icent in their own simple way. They thought 
they did God service, and perhaps much more 
the Indians themselves, in catching, taming, and 
converting them to Christianity. That was their 
vocation in the world, and they faithfully obeyed 
its calls of duty. Towards the converts and 
actually domesticated servants, they always 
showed such an affectionate kindness as the 
father pays to the youngest and most helpless 
of his family. The herds and flocks of the 
Fathers roamed undisturbed over numberless 
hills and valleys. Their servants or slaves were 
true born children of the house, who labored 
lightly and pleasantly, and had no sense of free- 
dom nor desire for change. A rude but boun- 
teous hospitality marked the master's reception 
of the solitary wayfarer, as he traveled from 
mission to mission, perhaps bearing some scanty 
news from the outer world, all the more wel- 
come that the Fathers knew little of the subject, 
and could not be affected by the events and 
dangers of distant societies. All these things 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 27 

have now passed away. Tlie churclies have 
fallen into decay, deserted by the old worship- 
ers, and poverty-stricken ; the ad.ohe houses of 
the Fathers are in ruins — and there is scarcely 
any trace left of the slightly erected huts of the 
Indians, who themselves have deserted their old 
hearths and altars, and are silently, though 
rapidly, disappearing from the land. But the 
memory of the patriarchal times, for they were 
only as yesterday, still remains fresh in the 
minds of the early white settlers." 

Mr. Young's party did not remain long to en- 
joy the sumptuous fare at the Mission of San 
Gabriel ; but pushed on to that of San Fer- 
nando, and thence to the river and fertile valley 
of Sacramento. In this neighborhood they 
trapped for beaver, and Carson displayed his 
activity and skill as a hunter of deer, elk, and 
antelope. 



28 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Okly familiarity with one of like character, 
by actually seeing it, can give a just idea of the 
country through which they were traveling. 
Livingstone's descriptions of localities in Central 
Africa might be transferred to our pages verba- 
tim^ to give a word-painting of the desiccated 
deserts of what is now New Mexico and Ari- 
zona. Carson's curiosity, as well as care to pre- 
serve the knowledge for future use, led him to 
note in memory, every feature of the wild land- 
scape, its mountain chains, its desert prairies, 
with only clumps of the poor artemisia for vege- 
tation, its rivers, and the oases upon their banks, 
where there were bottom-lands — nor were 
beaver found elsewhere — with its river beds 
whose streams had found a passage beneath 
the surface of the earth, and each other general 
feature that would attract the eye of the nat- 
ural, rather than the scientific observer. 

In our day, the note-book of the pioneer 
furnishing the data, the traveler carries a guide- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 29 

"book to direct his course from point to point, 
upon a well trodden road, to those places where 
grass and water will furnish refreshment for his 
animals, while he regales himself, not upon the 
spare-rib of a starved mule, killed because it could 
go no longer, but upon a variety of good things 
from the well stocked larder of the pouches 
of the saddle-bags his pack mule carries, or the 
provision box of his wagon. Or, instead of the 
meat-diet of the trapper, when he has been in 
luck in a fertile locality, the traveler — not 
trapper — of to-day, perhaps has shot a prairie 
chicken, and prepares his dinner by making a 
stew of it, which he consumes with hard bread 
he has purchased at a station not ten miles 
away. 

Familiarity with the features of the country 
does not restore the experience of the pioneer 
of these wilds. The Indian, now, is advised by 
authority he seldom dares defy, to keep off the 
roads of the emigrants ; and seldom does a 
party leave the road for any great distance ; 
nor are these roads infrequent, but the country 
is intersected with them, and the guide-books 
protect against mistake in taking the wrong di- 
rection. The test of character, however, with 
the trappers, was their ability to endure hard- 



30 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. i 

ships when they had to be encountered ; and 
to guard against them, when they could be 
avoided, by a wise foresight in taking advan- 
tage of every favor of fortune, and turning 
each freak or whim of the wily dame to best 
account. 

Carson was delighted with California from 
the first, and realizing intense satisfaction in 
his position, yet a youth, on terms of easy 
familiarity with the other seventeen old trappers, 
especially selected for this expedition, circum- 
stances conspired to call into play all the activ- 
ities of his nature, and nothing intruded to 
prevent his resigning himself to the impulses 
of the time, and making the most of every occa- 
sion that offered. 

He had the confidence of Captain Young and 
of all his men, who permitted him to do pre- 
cisely as he chose, for they found him not only 
intending always to do what was best, but pos- 
sessed of foresight to know always " just the 
things that ought to be done," almost without 
effort, as it seemed to them. 

After leaving the Mission of San Fernando, 
Young's party trapped upon the San Joaquim, 
but they found that another party of trappers 
had been there before them, employed by the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 31 

Hudson Bay Company, in Oregon. There was, 
however, room for them both, and they trapped 
near each other for weeks. The friendly inter- 
course kept up between the two parties, was 
not only one of pleasant interchange of social 
kindness, but in one sense was essentially use- 
ful to Kit, who lost no opportunity of improv- 
ing himself in the profession (for in those days 
trapping was a profession) which he had 
embraced, and he had the benefit of the experi- 
ence by way of example, not only of his own 
companions, but of those who were connected 
with the greatest and most influential company 
then in existence on this Continent. It is 
hardly necessary to say that he lost no oppor- 
tunity of acquiring information, and it is quite 
probable that he would, if called on, allow that 
the experience acquired on this expedition was 
among the most valuable of any which he had 
previously gained. 

When Mr. Young went to the Sacramento, 
he separated from the Hudson Bay party. 
The beautiful Sacramento, as its waters glided 
toward the chain of bays that take it to the 
ocean through the Bay of San Francisco out 
at the Golden Gate, had not the aspect of the 
eastern river's immediate tributaries of the 



32 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Missouri. Its waters then were clear as crystal, 
and tlie salmon floated beneath, glistening in 
the sunlight, as the canoe glided through them. 

The very air of this valley is luxurious ; and 
in speaking of it, we will include the valley of 
the San Joaquim, for both these streams run 
parallel with the coast, the Sacramento from 
the north, the San Joaquim from the south, and 
both unite at the head of the chain of bays 
which pour their waters into the Pacific. 

The Sacramento drains nearly three hundred 
miles of latitude, and the San Joaquim an hun- 
dred and fifty miles of the country bounded by 
the Sierra Nevada (snow mountains) on the 
east, and the coast range on the west, the whole 
forming a great basin, with the mountains 
depressed on the north and south, but with no 
outlet except through the Golden Gate. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 83 



CHAPTER V. 

No climate could be more congenial to a full 
flow of animal spirits, tlian this region, where, 
upon the vegetation of the rich black soil — 
often twenty feet deep — game of the better 
class in great abundance found support. Deer 
in no part of the world was ever more plenty, 
and elk and antelope bounded through the old 
oak groves, as they may have done in Eden. 

Carson had many opportunities of exploring 
the country, which he gladly embraced, and 
thus became familiar with many localities, the 
knowledge of which was in after years of such 
essential sei-vice to him and others. 

There were many large tribes of Indians 
scattered through this country, in these and 
smaller valleys, beside those which the mis- 
sions had attached to them. We know not that 
any record has been kept of the names of these 
tribes and their numbers ; but since the white 
men intruded, they have melted away as did 
earlier those east of the Mississippi. 
3 



34 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

These Indians were all of the variety called 
Diggers, but in better condition than we see 
them, since the small remnants of large tribes 
have adopted the vices of the white men, and 
learned improvidence, by sometimes having 
plenty without much toil ; so that they can 
say to-day, " No deer, no acorn ; white man 
come ! poor Indian hungry," as the happiest 
style of begging. 

A brief description of the Tlamath or Dig- 
ger Indians, and their mode of living, may not 
now be out of place, and having been visited 
by Carson in his earlier years, may not be un- 
interesting. We quote from the language of 
one who has paid a recent visit to the tribe : 

" There were a dozen wigwams for the nearly 
hundred that composed the tribe, one of which 
was much larger than the rest, and in the center 
of the group, the temple, or ' medicine lodge.' 
As we entered, the bones of game consumed, 
and other offal lay about ; and to our inquiry 
why they did not clear away and be more tidy, 
only a grunt was returned. The men had gone 
fishing, said the Indian women we addressed, 
so we saw but two or three ; but in one wig- 
wam which we entered there were fourteen vrith 
ourselves — the rest, besides the boy who went 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 35 

before to announce us, were women and chil- 
dren. 

" We ascended a mound of earth, as it seemed, 
about six feet higli, and through a circular hole, 
perhaps two feet and a half in diameter, de- 
scended a perpendicular ladder about ten feet. 
This opening, through which we entered, per- 
formed the double office of door and window to 
the space below, which was circular, about four- 
teen feet across, with arrangements for sleeping, 
like berths in a steamboat, one over another, on 
two sides, suspended by tying with bark a rough 
stick to upright posts, which served to hold the 
sticks that sustained the roof. The whole was 
substantially built, the covering being the earth 
which was taken from the spot beneath, heaped 
upon a layer of rushes, the floor- of the wigwam 
being four feet below the surface of the ground. 
On the two sides of the wigwam not occupied 
by the berths, were barrels filled with fish — 
dried salmon, seeds, acorns, and roots. 
f " On hooks from the rush-lined ceiling hung 
/ bags and baskets, containing such luxuries as 
\ dried grasshoppers and bemes. About the 
berths hung deer skins and some skins of other 
game, seemingly prepared for wear. There was 
no appearance of other dress, yet in the berths 



36 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

sat three women, braiding strips of deer-skin, 
and attaching the braids to a string, in the form 
of long fringe. Each of the women wore an 
apron of this kind about the waist, and only the 
dress of nature beside. The children were 
dressed ' in puris naturalibus.^ 

" After stopping ten minutes, we were glad to 
ascend to the open air, for a sickness came over 
us from which we did not recover for several 
hours. How human beings live in such an at- 
mosphere we cannot tell, but this is the way 
they habitate. 

" When the grasshoppers were abundant, for 
this insect is one of the luxuries of the Diggers, 
they scoured the valley, gathering them in im- 
mense quantities. This is done by first digging 
holes or pits in the ground at the spot chosen. 
Then the whole party of Indians, each with the 
leafy branch of a tree, form a circle about it and 
drive in the grasshoppers till they heap them 
upon each other in the pits: water is then 
poured in to drown them. Their booty gathered, 
they proceed to another place and perform the 
same operation. These insects are prepared for 
food by kindling a fire in one of these pits, and 
when it is heated, filling it with them and cov- 
ering it with a heated stone, where they are left 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 37 

to bake. They are now ready for use at any 
time, and eaten witli gusto, or they are pow- 
dered, and mixed with the acorn meal in a kind 
of bread, which is baked in the ashes." 

To return to the camp of trappers, and wit- 
ness one day's duties, may be gratifying to the 
reader. With early dawn the traps are visited, 
/and the beaver secured. The traps are re-ad- 
justed, and the game brought into camp — or 
left to be skinned where it is if the camp is far 
away. Meantime breakfast has been prepared 

\ by one of the party ; others have looked after 
the animals, relieving the watch, which is still 
kept up lest a stampede occur while all are 
sleeping. Carson could not be cook for the 
party constantly, but takes his turn with the 
i*est, and by the nice browning of his steak, and , 
(the delicacy of hi^ acorn coffee, and the addi- 
tion to their meal of roasted kamas root, he 

/ proves the value of the apprenticeship of his 

' earlier years. He has a dish of berries, too, and 
surprises the party with this tempting dessert, 
as well as with the information that in his 
rambles the day before he had dined with an 
old Californian, with his wife and daughters, 

( and had the promise from them of a cow, if he 

1 would call for it on the morrow. 



38 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Breakfast over, and the remains put by for 
luncli at noon, Carson mounts his pony, and 
riding a few miles down the bank, swims the 
river, and dashing out among the hills with a 
high, round mountain peak in view, still miles 
away, is lost among the oak groves for a score 
of miles, and at length emerges on Susan bay, 
and doffs his hat and makes his bow to the 
young Senorita who greets him at the door with 
a smile of welcome. The sun is low; dinner 
waits — hot bread, and butter, and cheese, and 
coffee, with sugar, are added to the venison and 
beef, and Irish and sweet potatoes. Amid the 
civilities and pleasant chat, the hour passes 
happily, and Carson proposes returning to his 
party. 

The ladies will not allow him to depai*t. 
Will he not accept the hospitality of their 
mansion for a single night ? They do not urge 
after one refusal, because his every feature in- 
dicates the decision of his character. He must 
go. His horse is brought — a young and beau- 
tiful animal — and the cow, this object of his 
second journey thither, given him in charge as 
he mounts, with a rope attached to her horns, 
by which to lead her. The full moon is rising, 
on which he had calculated, as he told his host- 




When the bears climbed so near as to reach him, Carson gave them smart 
raps on tlie nose.— Page 39. Kit Carson. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 39 

esses, and with words of pleasant compliment, 
witli wliicli tlie Spanish language so much more 
than ours abound, and a Bueno8 noches^ senor^ 
from his "entertainers, and Buenos noches^ senov' 
itaSj in return, he slowly winds his silent way 
on and on through the oak groves and the wild 
oats covering the hill-sides, hearing only the 

(^ong of the owl and the whippoorwill, the mu- 
sic of the insects, and the whispering leaves, 
but with ear ever open to detect the stealthy 
tread of the monster of the wood and hills — the 
grizzly bear. Off on the distant hill he sees 
one, with a cub following her; but game is 
plenty and deer is good enough food for her. 
On, on he goes at slow pace, for he has a- deli- 
cate charge, and already is she restive from 
very weariness, though his pace is slow. 

Half his journey is completed as the gray of 
dawn and the twinkle of the star of morning 
relieves the tedium and anxiety of his loneli- 
ness. He has made the circuit of the bay. 
The river is before him as he descends the hill 
which he has ascended for observation. Morn- 
ing broadens. The flowers glow with varie- 
gated beauty as he tramples them, and in some 
patches the odor of the crushed dewy beauties 
fills the air to satiety. 



40 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

A few miles more of travel and lie crosses 
the river, and is again in tlie river-bottom where 
the party have taken the beaver. He stops at 
an Indian village, and dines from the liberal 
haunch and the acorn bread the chief presents, 
and with good feelings displayed on either side, 
takes in his arms a young papoose, the digger's 
picaninny, and salutes it with a kiss. Kit leaves 
there a trifling, but to them, valuable memorial 
of his visit, mounts his sorrel which is restive 
under the slow gait to which he has restrained 
him, takes the rope again which secures his 
treasure, the cow, and plods towards home at 
evening. The camp fire smokes in the distance,! 
while the few horses that remain are staked 
about, and the sentinel paces up and down to 
keep off the drowsiness induced by fatigue and 
a hearty meat supper. The eastern and the 
western horizon are lighted with pale silver by 
the departing god of day, and the approaching 
goddess of the night, and the still river divides 
the plain, bounded only by the horizon, except 
he look behind him. Such is the scene as, ap- 
proaching, the sentinel raises his gun and giv^es 
the challenge to halt. But the rest of the camp 
are not yet sleeping, and a dozen voices shout 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 41 

in the still evening a glad welcome to Carson, 
for whom they were not concerned, for they 
well knew there was not one of the party so 
well able to take care of himself as he. 



42 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Peters, in Lis " Life of Cai^on " tells the 
story of two expeditions whicli Carson led 
against the Indians, while they trapped upon 
the Sacramento, which give proof of his cour- 
age, and thorough education in the art of Indian 
warfare, which had become a necessity to the 
voyageur on the plains, and in the mountains of 
the western wilds. With his quick discrimina- 
tion of character, and familiarity with the habits 
of the race, he could not but know the diggers. 
I were less bold than the Apaches and Camanches, 
\with whom he was before familiar. ^-^ 

The Indians at the Mission San Gabriel, were 
restive under coerced labor, and forty of them 
made their escape to a tribe not far away. 

The mission demanded the return of these 
fugitives, and being refused, gave battle to the 
neighboring tribe, but were defeated. The 
Padre sent to the trappers for assistance to com- 
pel the Indians not to harbor their people. 
Carson and eleven of his companions volunteered 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 43 

to aid the mission, and the attack upon the 
Indian village resulted in the destruction of a 
third of its inhabitants, and compelled them to 
submission. Captain Young found at this mis- 
sion a trader to take his furs, and from them pur- 
chased a drove of horses. Directly after his 
return, a party of Indians contrived to drive 
away sixty horses from the trappers, while the 
sentinel slept at night. Carson with twelve men 
were sent in pursuit. It was not difficult to 
follow the fresh trail of so large a drove, yet he 
pursued them a hundred miles, and into the 
mountains, before coming up with them. The 
Indians supposed themselves too far away to be 
followed, and were feasting on the flesh of the 
stolen horses they had slaughtered. Carson's 
party arranged themselves silently and without 
being seen, and rushing upon the Indian camp, 
killed eight men, and scattered the remainder 
in every direction. The horses were recovered, 
except the six killed, and partly consumed, and 
with three Indian children left in camp, they 
returned to the joyful greetings of their friends. 
Early in the autumn of 1829, Mr. Young and 
his party of trappers set out on their return 
home. On their route they visited Los Angeles, 
formerly called Pueblo de los Angeles, "the 



44 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

city of the angels," a name whicli it received on 
account of the exceedingly genial climate, and 
the beauty of the surrounding country. It is 
situated on a small river of the same name, 30 
miles from its mouth, and on the road between 
the cities of San Jose and San Diego. It is 
about three hundred and fifty miles east of San 
Francisco, and a hundred miles to the south. 

Although to very many thousands of readers, 
anything on the subject of the climate of Cali- 
fornia may seem superfluous, yet there are as 
many thousands who have no really distinct 
idea of the country or the climate, and we 
therefore quote from Rev. Dr. Bushnell, whose 
article on those topics in the " New Englander," 
in 1858, attracted justly such universal 
attention : 

" The first and most difficult thing to appre- 
hend respecting California is the climate, upon 
which, of course, depend the advantages of 
health and physical development, the growths 
and their conditions and kinds, and the modus 
operandi^ or general cast, of the seasons. But 
this, again, is scarcely possible, without dismiss- 
ing, first of all, the word climate^ and substitut- 
ing the plural, climates. For it cannot be said 
of California, as of New England, or the Middle 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 45 

States, that it has a climate. On the contrary, 
it has a great multitude, curiously pitched to- 
gether, at short distances, one from another, 
defying too, not seldom, our most accepted 
notions of the effects of latitude and altitude 
and the defenses of mountain ranges. The 
only way, therefore, is to dismiss generalities, 
cease to look for a climate, and find, if we can, 
by what process the combinations and varieties 
are made ; for when we get hold of the manner 
and going on of causes, all the varieties are 
easily reducible. 

" To make this matter intelligible, conceive 
that Middle California, the region of which we 
now speak, lying between the head waters of 
the two great rivers, and about four hundred 
and fifty or ^ve hundred miles long from north 
to south, is divided lengthwise, parallel to the 
coast, into three strips, or ribbons of about 
equal width. First, the coastwise region, com- 
prising two, three, and sometimes four parallel 
tiers of mountains from ^ve hundred to four 
thousand, ^we thousand, or even ten thousand 
feet high. Next, advancing inward, we have a 
middle strip, from fifty to seventy miles wide, 
of almost dead plain, which is called the great 
valley ; down the scarcely perceptible slopes of 



46 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

whicli, from nortli to south, and south to north, 
run the two great rivers, the Sacramento and 
the San Joaquim, to join their waters at the 
middle of the basin and pass off to the sea. 
The third long stri]3, or ribbon, is the slope of 
the Sierra Nevada chain, which bounds the 
great valley on the east, and contains in its foot- 
hills, or rather in its lower half, all the gold 
mines. The upper half is, to a great extent, 
bare granite rock, and is crowned at the sum- 
mit, with snow, about eight months of the 
year. 

" Now the climate of these parallel strips 
will be different almost of course, and subordi- 
nate, local differences, quite as remarkable, will 
result from subordinate features in the local 
configurations, particularly of the seaward strip 
or portion. For all the varieties of climate, 
distinct as they become, are made by variations 
wrought in the rates of motion, the courses, the 
temperature, and the dryness of a single wind ; 
viz., the trade wind of the summer months, which 
blows directly inward all the time, only with 
much greater power during that part of the day 
when the rarefaction of the great central valley 
comes to its aid ; that is, from about ten o'clock 
in the morning to the setting of the sun. Con- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 47 

ceive suet a wind, chilled by the cold waters 
that have come down from the Northern Pacific, 
perhaps from Behring's Straits, combing the tops 
and wheeling round through the valleys of the 
coastwise mountains, crossing the great valley 
at a much retarded rate, and growing hot and 
dry, fanning gently the foot-hills and sides of 
the Sierra, still more retarded by the piling 
necessary to break over into Utah, and the con- 
ditions of the California climate, or climates, 
will be understood with general accuracy. 
Greater simplicity in the matter of climate is 
impossible, and greater variety is hardly to be 
imagined. 

" For the whole dry season, viz., from May 
to November, this wind is in regular blast, day 
by day, only sometimes approaching a little 
more nearly to a tempest than at others. It never 
brings a drop of rain, however thick and rain- 
like the clouds it sometimes drives before it. 
The cloud element, indeed, is always in it. 
Sometimes it is floated above, in the manner 
commonly designated by the term clovA, Some- 
times, as in the early morning, when the wind 
is most quiet, it may be seen as a kind of fog 
bank resting on the sea-wall mountains or roll- 
ing down landward through the interstices of 



48 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

their summits. When the wind begins to huiTy 
and take on less composedly, the fog becomes 
blown fog, a kind of lead dust driven through 
the air, reducing it from a transparent to a semi- 
transparent or merely translucent state, so that 
if any one looks up the bay, from a point twenty 
or thirty miles south of San Francisco, in the 
afternoon, he will commonly see, directly abreast 
of the Golden Gate where this wind drives in 
with its greatest power, a pencil of the lead 
dust shooting upwards at an angle of thirty or 
forty degrees (which is the aim of the wind 
preparing to leap the second chain of mountains, 
the other side of the bay), and finally tapering 
oif and vanishing, at a mid-air point eight or 
ten miles inland, where the increased heat of the 
atmosphere has taken up the moisture, and re- 
stored its complete transparency. This wind 
is so cold, that one who will sit upon the deck 
of the afternoon steamer passing up the bay, 
will even require his heaviest winter clothing. 
And so rough are the waters of the bay, land- 
locked and narrow as it is, that sea-sickness is a 
kind of regular experience, with such as are 
candidates for that kind of felicity. 

" We return now to the middle strip of the 
great valley where the engine, or rather boiler 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 49 

power, that operates the coast wind in a great 
part of its velocity, is located. Here the heat, 
reverberated as in a forge, or oven (whence 
Cali—foi^nia ) becomes, even in the early spring 
so much raised that the ground is no longer 
able, by any remaining cold there is in it, to 
condense the clouds, and rain ceases. A little 
further on in the season, there is not cooling in- 
fluence enough left to allow even the phenom- 
ena of cloud, and for weeks together, not a 
cloud will be seen, unless, by chance, the skirt 
of one may just appear now and then, hanging 
over the summit of the western mountains. 
The sun rises, fixing his hot stare on the world, 
and stares through the day. Then he returns 
as in an orrery, and stares through another, in 
exactly the same way. The thermometer will 
go up, not seldom, to 100° or even 110°, and 
Judging by what we know of effects here in 
New England, we should suppose that life 
would scarcely be supportable. And yet there 
is much less suffering from heat in this valley 
than with us, for the reason probably that the 
nights are unifoi'mly cool. The thermometer 
goes down regularly with the sun, and one or 
two blankets are wanted for the comfort of the 
night. This cooling of the night is probably 
4 



50 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

determined by the fact that the cool sea wind 
sweeping through the upper air of the valley, 
from the coast mountains on one side, over the 
mountains and mountain passes of the Sierra 
on the other, is not able to get down to the 
ground of the valley dinging the day, because 
of the powerfully steaming column of heat that 
rises from it ; but as soon as the sun goes down, 
it drops immediately to the level of the plain, 
bathing it for the night with a kind of perpen- 
dicular sea breeze, that has lost for the time a 
great part of its lateral motion. The conse- 
quence is that no one is greatly debilitated by 
the heat. On the contrary, it is the general 
testimony, that a man can do as much of men- 
tal or bodily labor in this climate, as in any 
other. And it is a good confirmation of this 
opinion, that horses will here maintain a won- 
derful energy, traveling greater distances, com- 
plaining far less of heat, and sustaining their 
spirit a great deal better than with us. It is 
also to be noted that there is no special ten- 
dency to fevers in this hot region, except in 
what is called the tule bottom, a kind of giant 
bulrush region, along the most depressed and 
marshiest portions of the rivers. 

" Passing now to the eastern strip or portion, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 51 

the slope of tlie Nevada, tlie heat, except in 
those deep canons where the reverberation 
makes it sometimes even insupportable, is quali- 
fied in degree, according to the altitude. A 
gentle west wind, warmer in the lower parts or 
foothills by the heat of the valley, fans it all 
day. At points which are higher, the wind is 
cooler ; but here also, on the slope of the Neva- 
da, the nights are always cool in summer, so cool, 
that the late and early frosts leave too short a 
space for the ordinary summer crop to mature, 
even where the altitude is not more than 3,000 
or 4,000 feet. Meantime, at the top of the 
Sierra, where the west wind, piling up from 
below, breaks over into Utah, travelers under- 
take to say that in some of the passes it blows 
with such stress as even to polish the rocks, by 
the gravel and sand which it drives before it. 
The day is cloudless on the slope of the Sierra, 
as in the valley ; but on the top there is now 
and then, or once in a year or two, a moderate 
thunder shower. With this exception, as re- 
ferring to a part uninhabitable, thunder is 
scarcely ever heard in California. The principal 
thunders of California are underground. 

" We return now to the coast- wise mountain 
region, where the multiplicity and confusion 



6^ LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

of climates is most remarkable. Their variety 
we shall find depends on tlie courses of the 
wind currents, turned hither and thither by 
the mountains ; partly also on the side any 
given place occupies of its valley or mountain ; 
and partly on the proximity of the sea. 
Sprinkled in among these mountains, and more 
or less inclosed by them, are valleys, large and 
small, of the highest beauty. But a valley in 
California means something more than a scoop 
or depression. It means a rich land-lake, leveled 
between the mountains, with a sharply defined, 
picturesque shore, where it meets the sides and 
runs into the indentations of the mountains. 
What is called the Bay of San Francisco, is a 
large salt water lake in the middle of a much 
larger land-lake, sometimes called the San Jose 
valley. It extends south of the city forty 
miles, and northward among islands and moun- 
tains about twenty-five more, if we include 
what is called San Pueblo Bay. Three beauti- 
ful valleys of agricultural country, the Petal uma, 
Sonora, and Napa valleys, open into this larger 
valley of the bay, on the north end of it be- 
tween four mountain barriers, having each a 
short navigable creek or inlet. Still farther 
north is the Russian River valley, opening 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 53 

towards the sea, and the Clear Lake valley and 
region, which is the Switzerland of California. 
East of the San Jose valley, too, at the foot of 
Diabola, and up among the mountains, are the 
large Amador and San Ramon valleys, also the 
little gem of the Sunole. Now these valleys, 
which, if we except the great valley of two 
rivers, comprise the plow-land of Middle Cali- 
fornia, have each a climate of its own, and pro- 
ductions that con^espond. We have only to 
observe further, that the east side of any valley 
will commonly be much warmer than the west ; 
for the very paradoxical reason that the cold 
coast-wind always blows much harder on the 
other side or steep slope even, of a mountain, 
opposite or away from the wind, than it does 
on the side towards it, reversing all our notions 
of the sheltering effects of mountain ridges." 



54 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER Vn. 

DuEiNG this brief tarry at Los Angeles, Car- 
son had not been idle, but entirely without 
thought that his confidence could be deemed 
presumption, arranging his dress with as much 
care as its character permitted, ear]y in the 
morning he mounted his horse — always in ex- 
cellent trim — and rode to the residence of the 
man he had been informed owned the best ranche 
in the vicinity, and dismounting at the wicket 
gate, entered the yard, which was fenced with 
a finely an'anged growth of club cactus ; and 
passing up the gravel walk several rods, be- 
tween an avenue of ^g trees, with an occasional 
patch of green shrubs, and a few flowers, he 
stood at the door of the spacious old Spanish 
mansion, which was built of culohe one story in 
height and nearly a hundred feet in length, its 
roof covered mth asphaltum mingled with sand 
— ^like all the houses in Los Angeles, a spring 
of this material existing a little way from the 
town. After waiting a few moments for an 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 55 

answer to tis summons, made with the huge 
brass knocker, an Indian servant made his ap- 
pearance, and ushered him to an elegantly fur- 
nished room, with several guitars tying about 
as if recently in use. The lordly owner of the 
ranche soon appeared in morning gown and 
slippers, the picture of a well-to-do old-time 
gentleman, with an air evincing an acquaint- 
ance with the world of letters and of art, such 
as only travel can produce. 

He asked the name of his stranger guest, as 
Carson approaching addressed him, and at once 
commenced a conversation in English, saying 
with a look of satisfied pleasure, " I address you 
in your native tongue, which I presume is agree- 
able, though you speak very good Spanish ; " to 
which Carson, much more surprised to hear his 
native language so fluently spoken, than his host 
was to be addressed in Spanish, replied, 

"It is certainly agreeable to find you can 
give me the information which, as an American, 
I seek, in the language my mother taught me," 
and at once they were on terms of easy famil- 
iarity. 

As it was early morning, his host asked Car- 
son to take a cup of coffee with him, and con- 
ducting him to the breakfast room, presented 



56 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Mm to the family — a wife and several grown 
sons and daughters. 

Carson enjoyed the social part of this treat, 
more than the tempting viands with which the 
board was loaded. Though Spanish was the 
language most used by the family, all spoke 
English, and a young man from Massachusetts 
was with them as a tutor to some of the younger 
children. Breakfast over, the host invited him 
to visit the vineyard, which he said was hardly 
in condition to be exhibited, as the picking had 
commenced two weeks before. He said his 
yard, of a thousand varas, yielded him more 
grapes than he could manage to dispose of, 
though last year he had made several butts of 
wine, and dried ^ve thousand pounds of raisins. 
The vines were in the form of little trees, so 
closely had they been trimmed, and were still 
loaded with the purple clusters. Tasting them, 
Carson justly remarked that he had never eaten 
so good a grape. 

" No," said his host, " I think not ; neither 
have I, though I have traveled through Europe. 
The valley of the Rhine, nor of the Tagus, pro- 
duces anywhere a grape like ours. I think that 
the Los Angeles grape is fit food indeed for 
angels — is quite equal to the grapes of Eshcol — 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 57 

you remember the heavy clusters that were 
found there, so that two men carried one be- 
tween them on a pole resting upon their shoul- 
ders. See that now," and he drew Carson to a 
vine whose trunk was six inches through, and 
yet it needed a prop to sustain the weight of 
the two clusters of grapes it bore. 

A species of the cactus, called the prickly 
pear, enclosed the vineyard, and this really bore 
pears, or a fruit of light orange color, in the 
form of a pear, but covered with a down of 
prickles. The Indian boy brought a towel, and 
wiping the fruit until it shone, gave to Carson 
to taste. It was sweetish, juicy, and rich, but 
with less of flavor than a pear. Beyond the 
vineyard were groves of fig and orange trees. 
The figs were hardly ripe, being the third crop 
of the season, while the oranges were nearly fit 
for picking. The host said that his oranges 
were better than usual this season, but he did 
not know what he should do with them. He 
was in the habit of shipping them to Santa 
Barbara and Monterey, and thence taking some 
to San Jose ; but latterly oranges had been 
brought to Monterey from the Sandwich Islands 
by ships in the service of the Hudson Bay Com- 
pany, returning from the China trade to the 



58 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

mouth of the Columbia, which, arriving before 
his were ripe, he found the fruit market fore- 
stalled. 

"This is the finest country the sun shines 
upon," said he, "and we can live luxuriously 
upon just what will grow on our own farms ; 
but we cannot get rich. Our cattle will only 
bring the value of the hides ; our horses are of 
little value, for there are plenty running mid 
which good huntsmen can take with the lasso ; 
and, as for fruit, from which I had hoped to re- 
alize something, the market is cut off by Yankee 
competition. I think we shall have the Ameri- 
cans with us before many years, and for my 
part I hope we shall. The idea of Californians 
/ generally, as well as of other Mexicans, that 
they are too shrewd for them, is true enough ; 
but certainly there is plenty of room for a large 
population, and I should prefer that the race 
that has most enterprise, should come and cul- 
tivate the country with us. 

Carson's youth commanded him to listen, 
rather than to advance his own sentiments ; but 
he expressed his pleasm^e at hearing his host 
compliment the Americans, and said in reply, " I 
have not been an extensive traveler, and have 
chosen the life of a mountaineer, for a time 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 59 

certainly ; but since I came to California, I am 
half inclined to decide to make this my liome 
when I get tired of trapping. I like the hunt, 
and have found game exceedingly plenty here, 
but there is no buffalo, and I want that. Give 
me buffalo, and I would settle in California." 

He described to his host a buffalo hunt in 
which he engaged with the Sioux Indians, be- 
fore he left his father's home, at fifteen years of -v 
/age, and another later, since he came into the \ 
i mountains. He had hunted buffalo every year / 
( since he was twelve years old. 

The Don was charmed with the earnestness 
and the frankness, and manifest integrity of the 
youth, and turning his glance upon him, with 
the slightly quizzical expression the face a Span- 
iard so readily assumes, he inquired how many 
buffalo he had ever killed. 

" Not so many as I have deer, because I was 
always in a deer country; but in the eight 
years since I commenced going in the buffalo 
ranges, I must have killed ^y^ hundred. The 
hunter does not kill without he wishes to use. 
I was often permitted to take a shot at the 
animals before I was able to help in dressing 
them." 

But Carson felt it might seem like boasting. 



60 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

for him to tell his own exploits, and changing 
the theme, remarked, 

" Your horses would make excellent buffalo 
hunters, with the proper training, and I have 
some at camp that I intend shall see buffalo. 
But why do you not deal gently with them 
when they are first caught, and keep the fire 
they have in the herd? Pardon me, but I 
think in taming your horses, you break their 
spirits." 

" My tutor has said the same, and I too have 
thought so in regard to the Mexican style of 
training our horses. We mount one just caught 
from the drove, and ride him till he becomes 
gentle from exhaustion. The French do not 
train horses in that way, nor the English; I 
have not been in the United States. Our cus- 
tom is brought from Spain ; and it answers well 
enough with us, where our horses go in droves, 
and when one is used up, we turn him out and 
take up another ; but when we take this animal 
again, he is just as wild as at the first ; we can- 
not afford to spend time on breaking him when 
it must be done over again directly.'' 

And so the two hours, which Carson had 
allotted for his visit, passed in easy chat, and 
when he took his leave, his host expressed his 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 61 

thanks for Ms visit, and promised to return it 
at the camp. 

Carson did not again see his courteous host, 
for early on the following morning, Mr. Young 
found it necessary that he should get his men 
away from Los Angeles as speedily as possible. 
They had been indulging to excess in bad 
liquors, and having none of the best feelings 
towards the Mexicans, many quarrels, some end- 
ing in bloodshed, had ensued. 

He therefore despatched Carson ahead with 
a few men, promising to follow and overtake 
him at the earliest moment, and waiting an- 
other day, he managed to get his followers in 
a tolerably sober condition, and succeeded, 
though not without much trouble, in getting 
away without the loss of a man, though the 
Mexicans were desperately enraged at the 
death of one of their townsmen, who had been 
killed in a chance fray. In three days he 
overtook Carson, and the party, once more re- 
united, advanced rapidly towards the Colorado 
River, his men working with a heartiness and 
cheerfulness, resulting from a consciousness of 
their misconduct at Los Angeles, which, but for 
the prudent discretion of Young and Carson, 
might have resulted disastrously to all concerned. 



62 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

In nine days they were ready to commence 
trapping on the Colorado, and in a short time 
added here to the large stock of furs they had 
brought from California. 

Here while left in charge of the camp, with 
only a few men, Carson found himself suddenly 
confronted by several hundred Indians. They 
entered the camp with the utmost assurance, 
and acted as though they felt the power of 
their numbers. Carson at once suspected that 
all was not right, and attempting to talk with 
them, he soon discovered that, with all their 
sang-froid^ each of them carried his weapons 
concealed beneath his garments, and immedi- 
ately ordered them out of camp. Seeing the 
small number of the white men, the Indians 
were not inclined to obey, but chose to wait 
their time and do as they pleased, as they 
were accustomed to do with the Mexicans. 
They soon learned that they were dealing with 
men of different mettle, for Carson was a man 
not to be trifled with. 

His men stood around him, each with his 
rifle resting in the hollow of the arm, ready to 
be dropped to deadly aim on the sign from 
their young commander. Carson addressed the 
old chief in Spanish (for he had betrayed his 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 63 

knowledge of that language), and warned liim 
that though they were few, they were deter- 
mined to sell their lives dearly. The Indians 
awed, it would seem, by the bold and defiant 
language of Carson, and finding that any 
plunder they might acquire, would be pur- 
chased at a heavy sacrifice, sullenly withdrew, 
and left the party to pursue their journey un- 
molested. 

Any appearance of fear would have cost the 
lives of Carson and probably of the whole 
party, but the Indian warriors were too chary 
of their lives to rush into death's door unpro- 
voked, even for the sake of the rich plunder 
they might hope to secure. Carson's cool 
bravery saved the trappers and all their effects ; 
and this first command in an Indian engage- 
ment is but a picture of his conduct in a hun- 
dred others, when the battles were with weap- 
ons other than the tongue. The intention of the 
Indians had been to drive away the animals, first 
causing a stampede, when they would become 
lawful plunder, but they dared not undertake it. 

The wily craftiness of the Indians induced 
the necessity for constant vigilance against them, 
and in the school this youth had been in all 
his life, he had shown himself an apt scholar. 



64 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

While on the Colorado, Young's party dis- 
covered a company of Indians (with whom 
they had had a previous skirmish), as they were 
coming out from Los Angeles, and charging 
suddenly among them, succeeded in taking a 
large herd of cattle from them in the Indians' 
own style. The same week an Indian party 
came past their camp in the night, with a drove 
of a hundred horses, evidently just stolen from 
a Mexican town in Sonora. The trappers, with 
their guns for their pillows, were ready in an 
instant for the onslaught, and captured these 
horses also, the Indians hurrying away for fear 
of the deadly rifle. The next day they selected 
such as they wanted from the herd, choosing of 
course the finest, and turning the rest loose, to 
be taken again by the Indians, or to become 
the wild mustangs that roamed the plains of 
Northern Mexico, in droves of tens of thou- 
sands, and which could be captured and tamed 
only by the use of the lasso. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 65 

Mr. Young and his party trapped down the 
Colorado and up the Gila with success, then 
crossed to the vicinity of the New Mexican 
copper mines, where they left their furs and 
went to Santa Fe. Having procured there 
license to trade with the Indians about the cop- 
per mines, they returned thither for their furs, 
went back to Santa Fe and disposed of them to 
great advantage. The party disbanded with 
several hundred dollars apiece, which most of 
them expended as sailors do their earnings 
when they come into port. Of course Carson 
was hail fellow well met with them for a time. 
He had not hitherto taken the lesson that all 
have to learn, viz., that the ways of pleasure 
are deceitful paths ; and to resist temptation 
needs a large amount of courage — larger per- 
haps than to encounter any physical danger ; 
at least the moral courage it requires is of a 
higher tone than the physical courage which 
would carry one through a fight with a grizzly 
bear triumphantly ; that the latter assists the 
former ; indeed that the highest moral courage 
must be aided by ph3^sical bravery, but that the 
latter may exist entirely independently of the 
former. 

Carson learned during this season of hilarity 
5 



QQ LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

the necessity of saying No ! and he did so per- 
sistently, knowing that if he failed in this he 
would be lost to himself and to everything dear 
in life. He was now twenty-one, and though 
the terrible ordeal of poverty had been nobly 
borne, and he had conquered, the latter ordeal 
of temptation from the sudden possession of 
what was to him a large sum of money, had 
proved, for once, too much. And it is well for 
him perhaps it was so ; as it enabled him to 
sow his wild oats in early youth. 

It is not improbable that some of this party 
belonged to the class of Canadians called cou- 
reur des bois, whose habits Mr. Irving thus 
describes in his Astoria : 

" A new and anomalous class of men gradu- 
ally grew out of this trade. These were called 
courewrs des hois^ rangers of the woods ; orig- 
inally men who had accompanied the Indians in 
their hunting expeditions, and made themselves 
acquainted with remote tracts and tribes ; and 
who now became, as it were, pedlers of the wil- 
derness. These men would set out from Mont- 
real with canoes well stocked with goods, with 
arms and ammunition, and would make their 
way up the mazy and wandering rivers that in- 
terlace the vast forests of the Canadas, coasting 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 67 

the most remote lakes, and creating new wants 
and habitudes among the natives. Sometimes 
they sojourned for months among them, assimi- 
lating to their tastes and habits with the happy 
facility of Frenchmen ; adopting in some degree 
the Indian dress, and not unfrequently taking 
to themselves Indian wives. 

" Twelve, fifteen, eighteen months would often 
elapse without any tidings of them, when they 
would come sweeping their way down the Ot- 
tawa in full glee, their canoes laden down with 
packs of beaver skins. Now came their turn 
for revelry and extravagance. ' You would be 
amazed,' says an old writer already quoted, 
4f you saw how lewd these pedlers are when 
they return ; how they feast and game, and 
how prodigal they are, not only in their clothiis, 
but upon their sweethearts. Such of them as 
are married have the wisdom to retire to their 
own houses ; but the bachelors do just as an 
East Indiaman and pirates are wont to do ; for 
they lavish, eat, drink, and play all away as 
long as the goods hold out; and when these 
are gone, they even sell their embroidery, their 
lace, and their clothes. This done, they ai^e 
forced upon a new voyage for subsistence."' 

Many of these cov/reurs des hois became so 



08 LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 

accustomed to tlie Indian mode of living, and 
the perfect freedom of the wilderness, that they 
lost all relish for civilization, and identified 
themselves with the savages among whom they 
dwelt, or could only be distinguished from them 
by superior licentiousness. 

In the autumn Carson joined another trapping 
party under Mr. Fitzpatrick, whom we shall 
have frequent occasion to mention hereafter. 
They proceeded up the Platte and Sweet 
Water past Goose Creek to the Salmon Eiver, 
where they wintered, like other parties, sharing 
the good will of the Nez Perces Indians, and 
having the vexations of the Blackfeet for a 
constant fear. Mr. Fitzpatrick, less daring than 
Carson, declined sending him to punish this tribe 
for their depredations. 

In the spring they came to Bear River, which 
flows from the north to Salt Lake. Carson and 
four men left Mr. Fitzpatrick here, and went 
ten days to find Captain Gaunt in the place called 
the New Park, on the head waters of the Arkan- 
sas, where they spent the trapping season, and 
wintered. While the party were wintering in 
camp, being robbed of some of their horses by 
a band of sixty Crow Indians, Carson, as usual, 
was appointed to lead the party sent in pursuit 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 69 

of the plunderers. With only twelve men he 
took up the trail, came upon the Indians in one 
of their strongholds, cut loose the animals, which 
were tied within ten feet of the fort of logs in 
which the enemy had taken shelter, attacked 
them, killed five of their warriors, and made 
good his retreat with the recovered horses ; an 
Indian of another tribe who was with the trap- 
pers bringing away a Crow scalp as a trophy * 

In the spring, while trapping on the Platte 
Eiver, two men belonging to the party deserted 
and robbed a cache^ or underground deposit of 
furs, which had been made by Captain Gaunt in 
the neighborhood. Carson, with only one com- 
panion, went off in pursuit of the thieves, who, 
however, were never heard of afterwards. 

Not finding the plunderers, Carson and his 
companion remained at the old camp on the 
Arkansas, where the cache had been made, until 
they were relieved by a party sent out from the 
United States with supplies for Captain Gaunt's 
trappers. They were soon after joined by a 
party of Gaunt's men, and started to his camp. 
On their way they had repeated encounters with 
Indians attempting to steal their horses, but 
easily beat them off and saved their property, 

* Cutts. CJonquest of California and New Mexico. 



70 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

On one occasion when Carson and the other trap 
pers were out in search of bea/ver sign^ they came 
suddenly upon a band of sixty warriors well 
armed and mounted. In the presence of such 
a force their only safety was in flight. Amid 
a shower of bullets from the Indian rifles, they 
made good their escape. Carson considered this 
one of Ills narrowest escapes. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. TL 



CHAPTER IX. 

In the spring of 1832, Mr. Gaunt's party had 
been unsuccessful, and were now upon a stream 
where there was no beaver, therefore Carson 
announced his intention of hunting on his own 
account. Two of his companions joined him, 
and the three for the whole season pursued 
their work successfully, high up in the moun- 
tain streams, while the Indians were down in 
the plains hunting buffalo ; and taking their 
fur to Taos, disposed of them at a remunera- 
tis^e price. While the two former spent their 
money in the usual way, Carson saved his hard 
earnings which his companions were so reck- 
lessly throwing away. This self -discipline, and 
schooling himself to virtue and temperance, was 
not without effort on the part of Kit Carson, 
for he loved the good will and kindly civilities 
of his companions ; but he knew also that he 
could not have his cake and eat it too, and 
chose to save his money and his strength for 
future use. 



72 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

While remaining at Taos, Captain Lee, for- 
merly of tlie United States army, now a part- 
ner of Bent and St. Vrain, at Bent's Fort, 
invited Carson to join an expedition whicli 
he was arranging. Carson accepted his 
offer, starting in October. Going northward 
they came up with a party of twenty traders 
and trappers, upon a branch of the Green 
river, and all entered winter quarters here to- 
gether. 

Mr. Eobideau had in his employ a Califor- 
nian Indian, very skilful in the chase — whether 
for game or for human prey — very courageous, 
and able to endure the greatest hardships and 
whose conduct hitherto had won the confidence 
of all. This Indian had left clandestinely, tak- 
ing with him six of Mr. Robideau's most valu- 
able horses, which were worth at least twelve 
hundred dollars. Mr. Eobideau, determined to 
recover them if possible, solicited Carson to 
pursue and overtake the Indian. Kit asked his 
employer, Mr Lees', permission to serve Mr. 
Eobideau, which was readily granted, when he 
at once prepared himself for hard riding and 
sturdy resistance. 

From a Utah village near he obtained an in- 
telligent and brave young warrior to join him — 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 73 

for Carson's reputation for courage, skill, and 
efficiency, were known to the tribes, and many 
of its braves were attached to him, and after- 
wards proved that they cherished a lasting 
friendship for him. 

For a time the blindness of the trail com- 
pelled them to go slowly, but once sure of its 
direction, they pursued it with the utmost speed 
down Green River, Carson concluding the In- 
dian was directing his course toward California. 
When they had gone a hundred miles on their 
way, the Indian's horse was suddenly taken sick. 
The Indian would not consent to continue the 
pursuit, as Carson suggested, on foot, and he 
therefore determined to go on alone, and put- 
ting spurs to his horse resolved not to return 
until he had succeeded in recovering Mr. Robi- 
deau's property. With practised eye ever upon 
the trail, he revolved in his mind the expert 
skill he might need to exercise in encountering 
the wily savage. This desperate expedition 
Carson had boldly entered into, not with rash- 
ness, but he had accepted it as an occasion that 
demanded the hazard. At the distance of 
thirty miles from where he left his Utah com- 
panion, he discovered the object of his chase. 
The Indian too had discovered him, and to pre- 



74 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

pare himself for the attack, turned to seek a 
shelter whence he might fire and reload with- 
out exposure to the shot from Carson's rifle — 
which he had unslung when first he discovered 
the Indian. 

With his horse at full speed at the moment 
the Indian reached his cover, Carson fired with 
aim so true that the Indian gave one bound 
and fell dead beside his horse, while his gun 
went off at the same instant. No further par- 
ticulars of description or speculation can add 
to the interest of this picture. We leave it to 
the imagination of the reader, as an illustra- 
tion of the daring and fidelity of Kit Carson. 
Collecting the horses, he soon had the pleasure, 
after a few minor difficulties of presenting to 
Mr. Eobideau the six animals he had lost, in 
as good condition as when they were stolen, 
and of announcing to him the fact that there 
lived one less rogue. 

Soon after Carson's return to camp some 
trappers brought them news that Messrs. Fitz- 
patrick and Bridger were camped fifteen miles 
from them. Captain Lee and Carson at once 
concluded that to them they might sell their 
goods. They started for their camp and were 
as successful as they had hoped, for they sold 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 75 

their whole stock of goods to this party, and 
took their pay in furs. Their contract being 
now completed, Carson joined Mr. Fitzpatrick 
again in a trapping expedition, but did not 
remain long with him, because the party was 
too large to make it pay, or even to work har- 
moniously together. With three men whom 
he chose from the many who wished to join 
him, Carson again commenced trapping on his 
own account. They trapped all summer on 
the Laramie, with unusual success. It was 
while Carson was out on this trap that he had 
the adventure with the grizzly bears,'^' which 
he considered the most perilous that he ever 
passed through. He had gone out from the 
camp on foot to shoot game for supper, and 
had just brought down an elk, when two griz- 
zly bears came suddenly upon him. His rifle 
being empty, there was no way of escape from 
instant death but to run with his utmost speed 
for the nearest tree. He reached a sapling 
with the bears just at his heels. Cutting off 
a limb of the tree with his knife, he used that 
as his only weapon of defense. When the 
bears climbed so as nearly to reach him, he 
gave thena smart raps on the nose, which sent 

*PeterSo 



76 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

them away growling ; but when the pain ceased 
they would return again only to have the raps 
repeated. In this way nearly the whole night 
was spent, when finally the bears became dis- 
couraged, and retired from the contest. Wait- 
ing until they were well out of sight, Carson 
descended from his unenviable position, and 
made the best of his way into camp, which he 
reached about daylight. The elk had been 
devoured by wolves before it could be found, 
and his three companions were only too glad to 
see him, to be troubled about breakfasting on 
beaver, as they had supped the night before ; 
for trappers in camp engaged in their busi- 
ness had this resort for food when all others 
failed. 

Laramie River flows into the North Platte, 
upon the south side. The country through 
which it flows is open, yet the stream is bor- 
dered with a variety of shrubbery, and in many 
spots the Cottonwood grows luxuriantly, and for 
this reason, the locality is favorable for the 
grizzly bear. 

Baird says of this bear : " While the black 
bear is the bear of the forest, the grizzly is the 
bear of the chapparal, the latter choosing an 
open country, whether plain or mountain, whose 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 77 

surface is covered with dense thickets of man- 
zanita or shrub oak, which furnish him with his 
favorite food, and clumps of service bushes, and 
low cherry ; and whose streams are lined with 
tangled thickets of low grape vine and wild 
plumb." The grizzly is not so good at climb- 
ing as the black bear, and can best manage by 
resting upon his haunches and mounting with 
his fore arms upon the bushes that he cannot 
pull over, to gather the berries, of which he is 
very fond. 

" Only in a condition of hunger will he attack 
a man unprovoked, but when he does, the 
energy with which he fights, prevents the Indians 
from seeking the sport of a hunt for the grizzly 
bear. He is monarch of the plain, with only 
their opposition, and has departed only before 
the rifle of the white hunter. An Indian, who 
would, alone, undertake to conquer a dozen 
braves of another tribe, would shrink from at- 
tacking a grizzly bear ; and to have killed one, 
furnishes a story for a lifetime, and gives a 
reputation that descends to posterity. The 
mounted hunter can rarely bring his horse to 
approach him near enough for a shot. 

Soon after his encounter with the bears. Car. 
son and his men were rejoiced by the arrival of 



78 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Captain Bridger, so long a mountaineer of note, 
and with him his whole band. Carson and his 
three companions joined with them and were 
safe ; and now for the first time he attended the 
summer rendezvous of trappers on the Green 
River, where they assembled for the disposal of 
their furs, and the purchase of such outfit as 
they needed. 

Carson for the Fall hunt joined a company of 
fifty, and went to the country of the Blackfeet 
at the head waters of the Missouri ; but the 
Indians were so numerous, and so determined 
upon hostility, that a white man could not leave 
his camp without danger of being shot down ; 
therefore, quitting the Blackfeet country, they 
camped on the Big Snake River for winter 
quarters. 

During the wdnter months, the Blackfeet had 
in the night run off eighteen of their horses, 
and Kit Carson, with eleven men, was sent to 
recover them, and chastise their temerity. They 
rode fifty miles through the snow before coming 
up with the Indians, and instantly made an at- 
tempt to recover their animals, which were loose 
and quietly grazing. 

The Indians, wearing snow shoes, had the ad- 
vantage, and Carson readily granted the parley 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 79 

they asked. One man from eacli pai'ty advanced, 
and between the contending ranks had a talk. 
The Indians informed them that they supposed 
they had been robbing the Snake Indians, and 
did not desire to steal from white men. Of 
course this tale was false, and Carson asked why 
they did not lay down their arms and ask for a 
smoke, but to this they had no reply to make. 
However, both parties laid aside their weapons 
and prepared for the smoke ; and the lighted 
calumet was puffed by every one of the savages 
and the whites alternately, and the head men of 
the savages made several long non-committal 
speeches, to which, in reply, the trappers came 
directly to the point, and said they would hear 
nothing of conciliation from them until their 
property was returned. 

After much talk, the Indians brought in five 
of the poorest horses. The whites at once 
started for their guns, which the Indians did at 
the same time, and the fight at once commenced. 
Carson and a comrade named Markland having 
seized their rifies first, were at the lead, and se- 
lected for their mark two Indians who were 
near each other and behind different trees ; but 
as Kit was about to fire, he perceived Mark- 
land's antagonist aiming at him with death-like 



80 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

precision, while Markland had not noticed him, 
and on the instant, neglecting his own adversaty, 
he sent a bullet through the heart of the other 
savage, but at the moment saw that his own 
enemy's rifle was aimed at his breast. He was 
not quite quick enough to dodge the ball, and 
it struck the side of his neck, and passed through 
his shoulder, shattering the bone. 

Carson was thenceforward only a spectator 
of the fight, which continued until night, when 
both parties retired from the field of battle and 
went into camp. 

Carson's wound was very painful, and bled 
freely, till the cold checked the flow of blood. 
They dared not light a fire, and in the cold and 
darkness, Carson uttered not a word of com- 
plaint, nor did even a groan escape him. His 
companions were earnest in their sympathy but 
he was too brave to need it, or to allow his 
wound to influence the course they should pur- 
sue. In a council of war which they held, it 
was decided that, as they had slain several In- 
dians, and had themselves only one wounded, 
they had best return to camp, as they were in 
unfit condition to continue the pursuit. Arriv- 
ing at camp, another council was held, at which 
it was decided to send thirty men under Captain 



LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 81 

Bridger, to pursue and chastise these Blackfeet 

thieves. This party followed the Indian trail 

several days, but finally returned, concluding it 

was useless to search further, as they had failed 

to overtake them. 
6 



UFE OF KIT CARSON, 



CHAPTER X. 

The Spring hunt opened on tlie Green Eiver, 
and continuing there a while, the pai-ty went 
to the Big Snake ; and after trapping with ex- 
traordinary success for a few weeks, returned to 
the Summer rendezvous, held again upon the 
Green River. Meantime Carson had recovered 
from his wound. 

An unusually large number of trappers and 
traders, with great numbers from the neighbor- 
ing Indian tribes, assembled at this rendezvous, 
made up of Canadians, Frenchmen, Dutchmen, 
Spaniards, and many a backwoodsman, who 
had lived upon the borders, perhaps, for three 
generations, removing when a neighbor came 
within ten miles, because near neighbors were a 
nuisance to him. Let us see the parties as they 
come in, the leader, or the one to whom fitness 
accords this position, having selected the spot 
for the camp, so remote from every other, as to 
have plenty of grass about it for the animals 
of the party. Perhaps a tent is spread, at least, 
everything is put in proper order, according to 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 83 

the notions and tlie tastes of the men who make 
up the party ; for the camp is the home of its 
members, and here they will receive visitors, 
and exchange courtesies. 

The party or parties that have made the 
special arrangements for the rendezvous — ^tra- 
ders with a full supply of goods — have spread 
a large tent in a central spot of the general 
encampment, where the whole company, save 
those detained at each camp in charge of the 
animals belonging to it, will assemble, at cer- 
tain hours each day, the time upon which the 
sales are announced to take place, and the ex- 
changes commence. 

The several parties arriving first, have been 
obliged to wait until all expected for the sea- 
son have arrived, because there is a feeling of 
honor as well as a care for competition, that 
compels the custom. The traders take furs or 
money for their goods, which bring prices that 
seem fabulous to those unaccustomed to the 
sight or stories of mountain life. The charge, 
of course, is made upon the ground of the ex- 
pense and risk of bringing goods eight hundred 
and a thousand miles into the wilderness, from 
the nearest points in western Missouri and St. 
Louis. 



84 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Irving opens Ids Astoria with tte following : 
" Two leading objects of commercial gain have 
given birtli to wide daring and enterprise in 
the early history of the Americas : the precious 
metals of the South and the rich peltries of the 
North." When he wrote this, it was true of 
the localities he named — the gold was not yet 
an attraction, except in the south, and only the 
British Fur Company in Canada had become an 
object of history in this branch of trade. He 
says, " While the fiery and magnificent Spaniard 
influenced with the mania for gold, has extended 
his discoveries and conquests over those brilliant 
countries, scorched by the ardent sun of the 
tropics, the adroit Frenchman, and the cool 
and calculating Briton, have pursued the less 
splen did, but no less lucrative, traffic in furs, 
amidst the hyperborean regions of the Canadas, 
until they advanced even vrithin the Arctic 
Circle. 

^' These two pursuits have thus, in a manner 
been the pioneers and precursors of civilization. 
Without pausing on the borders, they have 
penetrated at once, in defiance of difficulties and 
dangers, to the heart of savage countries ; laying 
open the hidden secrets of the wilderness ; lead- 
ing the way to remote regions of beauty and 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 85 

fertility, that might have remained unexplored 
for ages, and beckoning after them the slow 
and pausing steps of agriculture and civilization. 
It was the fur trade, in fact, that gave early 
sustenance and vitality to the great Canadian 
provinces. 

''Being destitute of the precious metals, 
they were for a long time neglected by the 
parent country. The French adventurers, how- 
ever, who had settled on the banks of the St. 
Lawrence, soon found that in the rich peltries 
of the interior, they had sources of wealth that 
might almost rival the mines of Mexico and 
Peru." The Indians, as yet unacquainted with 
the artificial value given to some descriptions 
of fuis, in civilized life, brought quantities of 
the most precious kinds and bartered them 
away for European trinkets and cheap commod- 
ities. Immense profits were thus made by the 
early traders, and the traffic was pursued with 
avidity. 

" As the valuable furs became scarce in the 
neighborhood of the settlements, the Indians 
of the vicinity were stimulated to take a wider 
range in their hunting expeditions ; they were 
generally accompanied on these expeditions by 
some of the traders or their dependants, who 



86 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

shared in the toils and perils of the chase, and at 
the same time, made themselves acquainted with 
the best hunting grounds, and with the remote 
tribes whom they encouraged to bring peltries 
to the settlements. In this way the trade aug- 
mented, and was drawn from remote quarters 
to Montreal. Every now and then a large 
body of Ottawas, Hurons, and other tribes who 
hunted the countries bordering on the great 
lakes, would come down in a squadron of light 
canoes, laden with beaver skins and other spoils 
of the year's hunting. The canoes would be 
unladen^ taken on shore, and theii' contents dis- 
posed in order. A camp of birch bark would 
be pitched outside of the town, and a kind of 
primitive fair opened with that grave cere- 
monial so dear to the Indians. 

" Now would ensue a brisk traffic wdth the 
merchants, and all Montreal would be alive 
with naked Indians, running from shop to 
shop, bargaining for arms, kettles, knives, axes, 
blankets, bright-colored cloths, and other 
articles of use or fancy ; upon all which, the 
merchants were sure to clear two hundred per 
cent. 

" Their wants and caprices being supplied, 
they would take leave, strike their tents, launch 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 87 

their canoes, and ply their way up the Ottawa 
to the lakes." 

Later, the French traders, cowriers des iozs, 
penetrated the remote forests, carrying such 
goods as the Indians required, and held rendez- 
vous among them, on a smaller scale, but similar 
to the one Carson had attended, so far as the 
Indian trade was concerned. But the Yankee 
element of character preponderated among the 
traders and trappers from the States ; besides 
the greater difficulty and expense necessarily 
incurred to reach the hunting grounds by land 
than in canoe, called into the work only men of 
energy and higher skill than the employees, 
mostly French, in the service of the Hudson 
Bay Fur Company, and a score of smaller par- 
ties, each owning no authority outside itself, 
adopted the plan of these summer encampments, 
during the season when the fur of the beaver 
and the otter was not good, as an arrangement 
for mutual convenience ; and the Indians of 
this more southern section availed themselves of 
the occasion, for their own pleasure and profit, 
and to the advantage and satisfaction of the 
traders, whose prices ruled high in proportion 
to the difficulty of transit, as well as the mono- 
poly in their hands of the articles deemed 



88 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

necessar}^ to the trapper's dress, culinary estab- 
lisliment, and outfit. These consisted of a 
woolen shirt, a sash or belt, and with some 
stockings, coffee, and black pepper, and salt, 
unless he could supply himself from the licks 
the buffalo visits ; with tin kettle, and cup, and 
frying pan; the accouterments of the horse, 
saddle and pack-saddle, bridle, spurs, and horse- 
shoes ; with material for bait ; and last, but not 
least, tobacco, which, if he did not use, he car- 
ried to give to the Indians — made up not only 
the necessaries, bat the luxuries, which the 
Indian and the white man indulged in, and for 
which, at such times, they paid their money or 
their furs. 

Perhaps the trapper took an Indian wife, 
and then she must be made fine with dress, 
denoting the dignity of her position as wife of 
a white man, and presents must be given to 
the friends of his bride. This was usually an 
expensive luxury, but indulged in most fre- 
quently by the French and Canadian trappers, 
many of whom are now living quietly upon 
their farms in Oregon and California, and the 
numerous valleys of the West. Indeed we 
might give the names of many a mountain 
ranger, and pioneer of note, first a trapper, who 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 89 

still lives surrounded by his Indian wife and 
their children, and finds himself thus connected 
with this people, having their utmost confidence, 
chosen the chief of his tribe, and able to care 
for them as no one not in such association 
could. 

At almost any point upon Green Eiver the 
gi^ass upon the bottom lands is sufficient for a 
night's encampment for a small party ; but at 
the place selected for the rendezvous, in the 
space of two or three miles upon either side of 
the river, the bottom spreads out in a broad 
prairie, and the luxuriant growth of grass, with 
the country open all about it, made the spot 
desirable for a large encampment. 



90 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER XT. 

Early in the summer the grass is green, but 
later it is hay made naturally, root and branch 
dried on the ground — there is no sod — and this, 
though less agreeable, is more nutritious for the 
animals than fresh grass. 

A scattered growth of fine old trees furnishes 
shade at every camp, and immediately about 
the great tent they afford protection from the 
sun to parties of card-players, or a "Grocery 
stand," at which the principal article of sale is 
" whisky by the glass ; " and perhaps, further 
on is a monte table, parties from several Indian 
tribes, and the pioneer of semi-civilization — the 
backwoodsman — has come in " with his traps," 
a few bags of flour, and possibly some cheese 
and butter, and the never failing cask of whis- 
ky. Perhaps his wagon is the grocery stand, 
to which we have just alluded. Without ex- 
tenuation, these encampments were grand occa- 
sions of which a few descriptions may be found 
written at the time by men of science and in- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 91 

tellectual culture, like Sir Wm. Stewart, who 
traveled upon these plains for pleasure, or the 
Rev. Samuel Parker, who happened at a Green 
River rendezvous, in 1835, while on his way to 
the Columbia River, under the auspices of the 
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign 
Missions. This was long before Brigham Young 
came West — before his scheme of religious 
colonization had its birth. 

There is now — has been for years — a trading 
post, where a Canadian Frenchman and an 
American partner with Indian wives, have pro- 
vided entertainment or furnished supplies to 
emigrants and Indians. It is near the Green 
River crossing, on the road from the South Pass 
to great Salt Lake City, via Fort Bridger. 

Amid the motley company it might be ex- 
pected that quarrels would arise, and disorderly 
conduct, growing out of the feuds among the 
tribes of Indians. These were kept in abey- 
ance as much as possible, and already Carson's 
popularity with them enabled him to act the 
part of peacemaker between them and the 
quarrelsome whites, as well as between each 
other, for many of them recognized him as the 
brave who had led excursions, whose success 
they had felt and suffered, and even though 



92 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

leader of victorious parties against themselves, 
they admired his prowess still ; for the party of 
Blackfeet came to the rendezvous under the 
protection of the white flag, and for the time, 
no one more truly buried the hatchet than Car- 
son, though just recovered from a wound given 
by a party of that tribe, which had nearly cost 
him his life, and of which we have written in a 
previous chapter. 

There was belonging to one of the trapping 
.parties a Frenchman by the name of Shuman, 
known at the rendezvous as " the big bully of 
the mountains," exceedingly annoying on ac- 
count of his boasts and taunts, a constant exciter 
of tumult and disorder, especially among the 
Indians. Bad enough at any time, with the 
means now for intoxication, he was even more 
dangerous. 

The habits of the mountaineers, without law 
save such as the exigency of the moment de 
manded, required a firm, steady hand to rule 
Carson had feared the results of this man's law 
lessness, and had often desired to be rid of him 
but he had not as yet found the proper oppor 
tunity. The mischiefs he committed grew worse 
and worse, and yet for the sake of peace they 
were borne unresistingly. At length an oj)- 




Carson was in the crowd, and at once stepped forward, saying, "I am an 



American."— Page ' 



Frontis—Kit Carson. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 93 

portunity offered to try his courage. One day 
Shuman, boasting of his exploits, was partic- 
ularly insolent and insulting towards all Amer- 
icans, whom he described as only fit to be 
whipped with switches. Carson was in the 
crowd, and immediately stepped forward, say- 
ing, '' I am an American, the most inconsiderable 
one among them, but if you wish to die, I will 
accept your challenge.'' 

Shuman defied him. He was sitting upon 
his horse, with his loaded rifle in his hand. 
Carson leaped upon his horse with a loaded pis- 
tol, and both rushed into close combat. They 
fired, almost at the same moment, but Carson an 
instant before his boasting antagonist. Their 
horses' heads touched, Shuman's ball just graz- 
ing Carson's cheek, near the left eye, and cut- 
ting off some locks of his hair. Carson's ball 
entered Shuman's hand, came out at the ^vrist, 
and passed through his arm above the elbow. 
The bully begged for his life, and it was spared ; 
and from that time forward, Americans were 

^ no more insulted by him. 

/ If, as in other duels, we were to go back to 

' remoter causes, and find in this too, the defense 

of woman — a Blackf oot beauty — whom Shuman 

had determined to abuse, which Carson's in- 



94 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

terf erence only had prevented, for tlie sake of 
truth, of honor, and virtue, as against insolence, 
falsehood, and treachery, although the girl did 
belong to a tribe that was treacherous ; Ave shall 
be but giving a point to the story that it needs 
for completeness, and show Carson in the ex- 
alted manliness and fidelity of his character. 

The trappers made arrangements at the ren- 
dezvous for the fall hunt ; and the party who 
were so fortunate as to secui^e Carson's services, 
went to the Yellowstone River, in the Blackf eet 
country, but met with no success. Crossing 
through the Crows' country to the Big Horn 
River, they met the party of Blackfeet return- 
ing from Green River. Carson held a parley 
with them, as was his custom whenever it was 
safe to go to an Indian camp. He told them he 
had seen none of their people, and that the 
tomahawk was buried if they were faithful to 
him. " But," said he, " the Crows are my 
friends, and while I am with them, they must be 
yours." 

On the Big Horn, too, their success was no 
better, and Carson did not meet his Crow 
friends. On the Big Snake, too, which they 
next visited, the result was the same. 

They here met a party from the Hudson 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 95 

Bay Company, led by a Mr. McCoy. Carson 
and five of his companions accepted tlae oli'er 
lie made them, and went with him to the Hum- 
boldt River, trapping with little success from its 
source to the desert where it loses itself, and 
where the termini of several other large rivers 
are all within a day's ride, according to the 
statement of residents at this point. Captain 
McCoy said to Carson, as he and two of the 
company started off upon the desert, 

" Do not be gone longer than to-morrow 
night, and if you strike a stream where there 
is beaver — there must be water between here 
and those snow mountains — we will trap a few 
days longer." 

On they rode over the artemisia plain till 
the lake was out of view from an eminence 
which Carson climbed ; then struck a tract of 
country entirely destitute of every sign of ani- 
mal or vegetable life, with surface as smooth as 
the floor for miles in extent, then broken by a 
ridge a few feet high, like the rim to a lake, 
whose bottom they had passed, to plunge 
immediately upon another like it, with perhaps 
a white and glistening crystallization spread 
thinly over it. 

Carson knew he must be upon the celebrated 



96 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Mud Lakes of whicli lie liad heard, and of 
wliicli lie had seen miniature specimens further 
east. Over these lake bottoms of earth, that 
broken, seemed like mingled sand and ashes, 
but which bore the tread of their horses, and 
over v^hich they seemed to fly rather than to 
step, so fragrant and exhilarating was the at- 
mosphere, they traveled thirty miles, then 
struck the artemisia plains again, only there 
was less of even this worthless production for 
the next ten miles than he had seen before for 
a long distance. 

Through a heavy sand, the weary horses 
plod, for they had come forty or fifty miles 
beneath a burning sun without food and with- 
out water. On they ride, for rest and refresh- 
ment to themselves was not to be thought of 
till they have it for the animals. The river is 
gained ! a broad, deep current of water, muddy 
like that of the Platte, supplies the moisture to 
the trees, whose tops ascend only a few feet 
above the desert level, and whose trunks rise 
from green meadows but little above the sur- 
face of the water. The bottom lands are nar- 
row, and the abrupt bank descends to the water 
perpendicularly twenty feet or more, seemingly 
of clayey earth, so soft, the water constantly 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 97 

wore upon it, and evidently the river channel 
w^as settling, as the years advanced. There 
were no signs of beaver, and, from the nature 
of the banks, there would be none, unless high 
up on the stream. 
7 



98 I*IFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER Xn. 

Captain McCoy had calculated that he would 
soon find game in the country through which 
his route lay, and therefore he had turned over 
to Carson, and the division of the party under 
his command, nearly all the food which was 
left, but this was insufficient to give them full 
meals for more than three days. Their pros- 
pect was a dreary one indeed, for at the earlier 
season of coming down the river, they had 
not half enough to eat, even with the few bea- 
ver they had taken, to add to the supply, and 
even this was now denied them. And now, 
that the reader may understand Carson's posi- 
tion, we invite him to enjoy with us a few of 
the incidents passed through, and views ob- 
served in our passage up this river, which the 
nn traveled eastern man would find so entirely 
new, and the man of travel and of letters would 
find so full of interest, as did the man whose 
name the river bears, for it was named by Fre- 



LIFE OF KIT CAKSON. 99 

mont, after Carson, whom lie liad learned to 
love and respect, long before lie reached it. 
We shall speak especially of the features of 
this country, common to so much that lies be- 
tween the civilizations of the Atlantic and the 
Pacific slopes, though the latter was not a civili- 
zation ; and when from the desert Carson gazed 
with admiration at the snow mountains, he 
surmised, as he afterwards realized through 
hunger, cold, danger, and suffering, that this 
was the chain of mountains which separated 
him from California. 

At the station-house, upon the lake, called 
the sink of the Humboldt, we were told that 
the Humboldt did not connect with, this lake 
except in the spring season, after the rains, and 
that for the last two years it had not been 
connected even at that time ; and that in the 
autumn one could pass, between the lake and 
the limit of the marsh in which the river loses 
itself, upon dry ground; and that the sinks, 
or the margins of the lakes or marshes in 
which the Carson, the Walker, and the Susan 
Rivers, neither of them less than a hundred 
miles in length, and some of them several 
hundred, in the wet season empty or lose 
themselves, were all within the limit of a 

LofO, 



100 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

single day's ride, and in the direct vicinity of 
the desert upon which the reader last saw 
Carson. 

It was the evening of the second of July, 
during a rain storm, (an unusual occurrence at 
this season of the year, no traveler having ever 
reported a similar one so far as we had heard,) 
that, weary, and wet, and cold, we found our 
way in the dark to this river in the wilderness. 
The house of the traders at the sink was made 
of logs, with two rooms — the logs having been 
drawn from the mountains, forty miles distant. 
There was no timber in sight, and nothing that 
was green except some grass about the lake, 
which we were told was poison, and on examin- 
ing, we found it encrusted with a crystallization 
of potash, left on it by the subsiding water in 
which the grass had started. 

During the wet season, the water of the lake 
overflows its banks, and the banks of the river 
are also overflowed, while the water standing 
upon the surface of the ground is strongly 
impregnated with potash, not only near the 
sink, but far up the stream, nearly to its source, 
the same cause existing, though only in occa- 
sional spots is it exhibited to the same degree 
as about the lake. It is not improbable that 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 101 

some immense coal formation migtt have been 
consumed here in some remote past age, though 
that is a matter for more scientific examination 
than becomes this work. 

But, to leave speculation ; the occupants of 
the station, whilom trappers in the mountains, 
furnished barley for our animals, and we might 
have purchased coffee, or a rusty gun, or bad 
whisky, but little else, for their regular sup- 
plies for the emigrants, who were soon expected 
to arrive, had not yet come in. The parties 
bound east had passed, and the Mormons, with 
their herds of cattle for the California markets, 
had been met beyond the desert. A party of 
Pah Utah or Piete Indians, a tribe of Diggers, 
were hanging about the encampment, and pos- 
sibly had caused the stampede of the Mormon 
oxen, which one of their herdsmen had reported 
to us as occurring here. The traders on the 
plains are charged with conniving at such ex- 
peditions of the Indians, and of sharing with 
them the plunder. These traders may not have 
been privy to anything of the kind, but certain 
it is they always stood ready to purchase the 
worn-out stock of the overland emigrants, much 
of which is worthless to cross the desert, after 
the prior fifteen hundred miles of travel. 



102 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

This is made a lucrativ^e business, as ^s'ill be 
readily imagined, when the number of animals 
driven over is taken into consideration, which 
has amounted to a hundred thousand annually, 
by this route, during several of the years since 
the quest for gold. 

The traders said they had twenty-five hun- 
dred horses and as man}^ oxen, in charge of 
herdsmen in the mountain valley. Shrewd 
men they were, one of them mth an eye we 
would not warrant to look out fi'om a kindly 
soul. 

Miserable wretches were these Humboldt 
Diggers, with scarcely a trace of humanity in 
their composition, for they have not improved 
since Carson first met them, many years ago. 
The old chief was delighted with a lump of 
sugar, which one of our pai'ty gave him. He 
^vore a long coat made of rabbit skins, warm 
and durable, strips of the skin with the hair 
out being wound around a deerskin thong, and 
these rolls woven into a garment, but the rest of 
the pai'ty were nearly naked. 

Passing Lassen's meadows where the party 
lunched at a spring, indicated, as we approached, 
by a gi'owth of Avillows, and striking upon 
the artemisia plain that constitutes the larger 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 103 

portion of the river valley, when about fifty 
miles from the station, w^e left the road by a 
blind trail, and approached the river, descend- 
ing to the bottom land by a precipitous bluff 
thirty feet in height. The mountains ap- 
proached close on the op23osite side of the 
river, probably a mile distant, and enclosed us 
in a semicircle, w^hile the bluif was lined with 
a scattered growth of alders. 

It rained, was raining violently when we 
halted, and stretching a rope from alder to 
alder, with a blanket thrown over it, we thus 
made a tent, and established ourselves cosily 
to spend here the nation's Sabbath-day, the 4th 
of July. 

The rain turned into snow towards evening, 
and covered the mountains to their base, but 
melting as it fell where we were encamped, and 
with the cooing of the doves which filled the 
alders, the croaking of the frogs in the marsh 
next the river, and the patter of the rain upon 
the bushes, we had other music — nature's deep 
bass — in a constant roaring sound, like that of old 
ocean at full tide on a sand beach of the open 
coast of the Pacific ; or like the sound of Niag- 
ara, heard half a mile away, but there was no 
discoverable cause. 



104, LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Going a mile up and down tlie river from tlie 
camp — if there is up and down to a dead river 
— we still heard the sound, the same in tone 
and power. Our Wyandotte — a member of the 
party who had crossed the plains with Col. Fre- 
mont — suggested that it was " the Humboldt 
sinking." 

All the day of the 4th of July we rested 
here, with our animals in clover, amid the snow 
which reached even to the foot of the moun- 
tains opposite, and the dirge played for us by 
the unseen hand. It was a quiet, still sweetly 
sad day — pleasant in memory, and such an one 
as we shall never spend again — so far from 
civilized humanity, and in a place so remote 
from human footsteps, it seemed a natural 
wonder which had never been properly examined 
and explained. 

Sooner than the old trappers anticipated, will 
the Humboldt be lined with farms, and the 
little mountain valleys filled mth grazing herds, 
and the church spire and the cross upon an un- 
assuming building in the center of a six-mile- 
square prairie, indicate the advance of civiliza- 
tion. Yet, except in the mud-lake localities, 
there is no tract of country that can well be 
more unpromising than that about the Hum- 



LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 105 

boldt ; and not many years will elapse before 
science will make plain and palpable that 
wonder of tlie world, " tlie sinking of the 
Humboldt." 



106 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Through the country we have thus briefly 
described, Carson and his men had trapped, 
taking some small game, intending to return late 
in the season when the cold of this high alti- 
tude, with the sun low, was becoming terribly 
severe, while the grass was dead, and the birds 
of passage had all departed. Their prospects 
were cheerless and unpromising, nor were they 
at all improved after they left the Humboldt ; 
for their route lay through an artemisia desert, 
varied only by an occasional little valley, where 
springs of water in the early season had induced 
the growth of grass. 

On reaching Goose Creek, they found it fro- 
zen, so that there was no possibility of finding 
even roots, to satisfy their hunger. Though to- 
day this is the trail of California emigration, with 
plenty of grass, for a great portion of the way, 
in its season ; now all was desolate, and inured 
as they were to hardship, Carson's men had 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 107 

never before suffered so mucli from hunger, nor 
did their animals fare much better. Captain 
McCoy had taken with him all not needed by 
Carson's party, because he could give them food, 
and it was fortunate for them he had adopted 
this course. 

The magnificent mountain scenery on the 
route could scarcely excite admiration or re- 
mark from this company of hungry, toil-worn 
men ; even that unique exhibition of nature's 
improvised ideality, done in stone — pyramid 
circle — with its pagodas, temples, obelisks, and 
altars, within a curiously wrought rock wall, 
they only wished were the adobe walls and 
houses of Fort Hall. However, nothing daunted 
by the dreary prospect before them, they here 
bled their horses, and drank the precious 
draught, well knowing they were taking the wind 
from the sails upon which they must rely to 
waft them into port, if they ever reached it. 

The next day, they were meditating the 
slaughter of one of their horses, when a party 
of Snake Indians fortunately came in sight. 
They had been out on the war trail, and re- 
turning, had little food, but Carson managed to 
purchase a fat horse, which they killed at once, 
and thus managed to live luxuriously till they 



108 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

reached the fort, able now to walk and give the 
horses the advantage of their diet. 

Epicureans of civilization, when the squeam- 
ishness of an appetite, perverted by too delicate 
fare, is invited to such a repast, may rest assured 
that they know not the satisfaction such fare 
aiforded to Kit Carson and his part}^ Horse 
beef was sweeter food to these starving men, 
than epicures had ever tasted. 

After recruiting for a few days at the fort, 
and learning that there were large herds of the 
game, which they gloried most in hunting, the 
buffalo, near by, Carson and his party started 
for the stream on which they could be found, 
and were not long in discovering a large herd 
of fine fat buffalo. Stretching lines on which 
to hang the strips, they killed, and dressed, and 
cut ; and soon had dried all the meat their 
animals could carry, when they returned to the 
fort. 

Three days before reaching the fort, a party 
of Blackfeet Indian^^ were again upon their trail, 
and watching for tKeir return. 

On the third morning after their arrival, just 
as day dawned, two of the Indians came past 
their camp to the corral of the fort in which 
their animals were confined, let down the bars 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 1q9 

and drove them all away; tlie sentinel, think- 
ing the Indians were men of his party w^ho had 
come to relieve his watch, had gone into camp 
and was soundly sleeping before the animals 
were missed. By this time the Indians had 
driven them many miles away, and as a similar 
ruse had been played upon the people at the 
fort a few days before, by which all their ani- 
mals were run off, there was no possibility of 
giving chase. 

Of course there was now no alternative but 
to wait the return of Captain McCoy from Walla 
Walla, which he did in about four weeks, bring- 
ing animals enough to supply Carson and his 
party, besides the men at the fort, which had 
been obtained of the Kiowas, or Kaious Indians, 
in Oregon. These Indians range between the 
Cascade and the Rocky Mountains, in what is 
now the eastern portion of Washington and 
Oregon Territories, living by the chase, and 
owning immense herds of horses, of which the 
chief of this tribe owned ten thousand. In this 
same locality the Indian bands, reported by the 
parties of trappers in the American Fur Com- 
pany, had abundance of horses, with which they 
hunted deer, " ringing or surrounding them, and 
running them down in a circle." But while an- 



110 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

telope, and elk, and deer, as well as beaver, 
were abundant, their locality was not fi^equented 
by tlie buffalo, its ranges being further toward 
the south and west. 

Many suppose that buffalo never existed west 
of the Rocky Mountains ; but to attempt a cor- 
rection of this impression with our readers, is 
no longer necessary, as we have seen Carson kill- 
ing them on the Salmon River, on the Green 
River, and lastly, in the valley of a stream that 
flows into the Salmon. 

From Baii'd's General Repository, published 
in 1857, we quote, 

"It will perhaps excite surprise that I in- 
clude the buffalo in the fauna of the Pacific 
States, as it is common to imagine that the 
buffalo has always been confined to the Atlantic 
slopes, because it does not now extend beyond 
the Rocky Mountains. This is not true. They 
once abounded on the Pacific." 

This animal has not been found in California 
nor in Oregon, west of the Cascade Mountains, 
within the present generation of men, and the 
limit of its ranges, narrowing every year, is now 
far this side of the Rocky Mountains. Really 
a wild animal, incapable of being domesticated, 
as the country is more and more traversed, he 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. HI 

retires — is killed by tliousands by the hunter — 
and seems destined, as really as the Indian race, 
to become extinct. Could either be induced to 
adopt the modes of life which residence among 
the races of civilized men requires, their exist- 
ence might be prolonged perhaps for centuries, 
but there seems to be no care, on the part of 
anybody who has the power, to preserve either 
the Indian or the buffalo as a distinct race of 
man, and quadruped. 

A writer who reports his trip from California 
in the summer of '57, by Humboldt River and 
Fort Laramie, says : 

" I watched for buffalo, expecting to see them 
in the valleys of the streams, the head-waters 
of the Platte. But the hundred miles upon the 
Sweet-water revealed no buffalo; upon the 
North Platte above Laramie there were none, 
and on the Fort Kearney we looked in vain for 
this noble game. If we had been a wagon party, 
and therefore confined to the road, this would 
not have surprised us, as the immense emigra- 
tion to California first, to Salt Lake next, and 
the United States army following, might be 
supposed to have driven them away. Then, too. 
Colonel Sumner had been through, and with a 
war party of three hundred mounted riflemen, 



112 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

had followed tlie Clieyeiiiies from Fort Laramie 
south to the head- waters of the Arkansas. But 
we frequently left the road for days together, in 
pursuit of game and the finer scenery of the im- 
mediate river valley, or the hills as it happened. 

"Only until three days after passing Fort 
Kearney, did the glad sight greet us. 

" In the broad bottom — ten miles at least be- 
tween the hills that shut in the river valley — 
they were scattered thickly and quietly grazing. 

" In two hours after coming in sight of them, 
we pitched our camp upon the river bank, and 
were soon prepared for the hunt. Though ten 
thousand were in sight, we had not yet ap- 
proached within half a mile of one, so shy are 
they, moving off when we came in sight. 

"The Platte was three-quarters of a mile 
vvide where we were camped, and above and 
below us were numerous trails running from 
the river back into the hills. These were like 
the cow-paths running to a spring in a New 
England pasture. We camped about three 
o'clock, and soon after the buffalo upon one 
side of the stream commenced moving towards 
the river by these paths, and following each 
other close to wade across it in a continuous 
line by half a dozen paths in sight from where 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 113 

we were. These moving lines of huge animals 
were continued till slumber closed our eyes, at 
ten o'clock in the evening, and we knew not 
how much longer. 

" Having no fresh animals, and only one that 
had not made the distance from the other side 
the Sierra Nevada within the last fifty days, we 
could not hunt by the chase. Accordingly, 
with nicely loaded double barreled rifle, we 
crept through the under-brush that lined the 
bank above us, and came near a line of buifalo 
crossing the river, and choosing our opportunity, 
as the animal pauses from the brisk trot before 
plunging into the stream, we were able to take 
good aim, and soon had lodged a ball in the 
breast of a fine cow, who with a bound leaped 
into the water, but was not able to proceed, nor 
needed the other shot which we lodged in the 
brain, to float her down the stream. 

" Calling help, we had her dressed directly, 
and the nicest steaks upon the coals already 
kindled at the camp, and found them exceed- 
ingly delicious — of course more so from the fact 
that we had taken it. Others of the party came 
in without success ; some had shot at a buifalo, 
others had got a sight of one, and at two of 
the crossings the line was broken temporarily 



114 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

by an unsuccessful attempt to kill an animal, 
but without Hurting bim. Most of us bad no 
practise witb tbis kind of game, tbougb tbey 
bad killed grouse, and some of tbem bad sbot 
antelope during our journey. But now tbeir 
guns would not go off, or tbey sbot too bigb, or 
could not get near enougb. Just at dark, bow- 
ever, tbe old gentleman came in for belp. His 
Frencb rifle — a gun of Revolutionary times — 
bad done execution, and a big bull was tbe 
prize be announced. We invited bim to our 
prepared repast, but ^ no ! be would sup to-nigbt 
upon bis own game, be tbanked us.' Of course 
be bad tbe tongue from tbe animal be killed, 
nor were tbe tender-loin and otber cboice bits 
bad eating, and taking tbe tongue ourselves, 
witb tbe rest of tbe party, (of ten,) we managed 
to carry away in tbe morning nearly all of tbe 
cow tbat we bad not already eaten. 
/ \A11 nigbt long tbe bellowing from tbe otber 
side tbe river ^eeted"buTTifed^~^enses. Tbe 
Situation was novel, and really in imagination, 
i[uite terrific. Would tbey return across tbe 
river and stampede our animals ? AVe got a 
little sleep before midnigbt, but not mucb later. 
^' In tbe morning tbe buffalo were indeed re- 
turning in tbe style tbey went, but as we rode 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 115 

on over their track, the lines were always bro- 
ken, and the animals scattered before we could 
approach them, and only once did we come 
within pistol shot of any of them ; nor did the 
rest of the party do any better. 

"• Of course we might have done it had we 
made this our business ; but we were hasten- 
ing from the El Dorado after a four years' ab- 
sence from our homes. So much for our ex- 
temporized buffalo hunting. In twenty-four 
hours after striking them, we had passed the 
buffalo, and saw no more of them. As we esti- 
mated it, we had seen in that time at least fifty 
thousand ; we had crossed the trail of fifteen 
lines of them crossing the river after we left 
camp this morning." 

We have quoted this to show the way in 
which travelers — emigrants now — meet the 
buffalo. Sometimes a huge drove of them over- 
run an emigrant party ; but this seldom occurs, 
nor do parties often see more of them than did 
the one we have just presented, though usually 
they see them for a longer time. So much have 
the times changed since Carson, was a trapper. 



115 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER XIV. 

With fresh animals, and men well fed and 
rested, McCoy and Carson and all their party 
soon started from Fort Hall, for the rendezvous 
again upon Green River, where they were de- 
tained some weeks for the arrival of other par- 
ties, enjoying as they best might the occasion 
and preparing for future operations. 

A party of an hundred was here organized, 
with Mr. Fontenelle and Carson for its leaders, 
to trap upon the Yellowstone, and the head- 
waters of the Missouri. It was known that 
they would probably meet the Blackfeet in 
whose grounds they were going, and it was 
therefore arranged, that, while fifty were to 
trap and furnish the food for the party, the 
remainder should be assigned to guard the 
camp and cook. There was no disinclination 
on the part of any to another meeting with the 
Blackfeet, so often had they troubled members 
of the party, especially Carson, who, while he 
could be magnanimous towards an enemy, would 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 117 

not turn aside from his course, if able to cope 
with him ; and now he was in a company which 
justly felt itself strong enough to punish the 
" thieving Blackfeet," as they spoke of them, 
he was anxious to pay off some old scores. 

They saw nothing, however, of these In- 
dians ; but afterwards learned that the small- 
pox had raged terribly among them, and that 
they had kept themselves retired in mountain 
valleys, oppressed with fear and severe disease. 

The winter's encampment was made in this 
region, and a party of Crow Indians which was 
with them camped at a little distance, on the 
same stream. Here they had secured an 
abundance of meat, and passed the severe 
weather with a variety of amusements in which 
the Indians joined them in their lodges, made 
of buffalo hides. These lodges, very good 
substitutes for houses, are made in the form of 
a cone, spread by the means of poles spreading 
from a common center, where there was a hole 
at the top for the passage of the smoke. These 
were often twenty feet in height, and as many 
feet in diameter where they were pinned to the 
ground with stakes. In a large village the 
Indians often had one lodge large enough to 
hold fifty persons, and within were performed 



118 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

their war dances around a fire made in the cen* 
ter. During the palmy days of the British Fur 
Company, in a lodge like this, only made, instead, 
of birch-bark, Irving says the Indians of the 
north held their " primitive fairs," outside the 
city of Montreal, where they disposed of their 
furs. 

There was one drawback upon conviviality 
for this party, in the extreme difficulty of get- 
ting food for their animals ; for the food and 
fuel so abundant for themselves did not suffice 
for their horses. Snow covered the ground, 
and the trappers were obliged to gather willow 
twigs, and strip the bark from cottonwood 
trees, in order to keep them alive. The inner 
bark of the cottonwood is eaten by the Indians 
w^hen reduced to extreme want. Besides, the 
cold brought the buffalo down upon them in 
large herds, to share the nourishment they had 
provided for their horses. 

Spring at length opened, and gladly they again 
commenced trapping ; first on the Yellowstone, 
and soon on the head-waters of the Missouri, 
where they learned that the Blackfeet were 
recovered from the sickness of last year, which 
had not been so severe as it was reported, and 
that they were still anxious and in condition for 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 119 

a figtt, and were encamped not far from their 
present trapping grounds. 

Carson and &ve men went forward in ad- 
vance " to reconnoiter," and found the village 
preparing to remove, having learned of the 
presence of the trappers. Hurrying back, a 
party of forty-three was selected from the whole, 
and they unanimously selected Carson to lead 
them, and lea^dng the rest to move on with the 
baggage, and aid them if it should be necessary 
when they should come up with the Indians, 
they hastened forward, eager for a battle. 

Carson and his command were not long in 
overtaking the Indians, and dashing among 
them, at the first fire killed ten of their braves, 
but the Indians rallied, and retreated in good 
order. The white men were in fine spirits, and 
followed up their first attack with deadly result 
for three full hours, the Indians making scarce 
any resistance. Now their firing became less 
animated as their ammunition was getting low, 
and they had to use it with extreme caution. 
The Indians, suspecting this from the slackness 
of their fire, rallied, and with a tremendous 
whoop turned upon their enemies. 

Now Carson and his company could use their 
small arms, which produced a terrible effect 



120 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

and which enabled them again to drive back 
the Indians. They rallied yet again, and 
charged with so much power, and in such num- 
bers, they forced the trappers to retreat. 

During this engagement, the horse of one of 
the mountaineers was killed, and fell with his 
whole weight upon his rider. Carson saw the 
condition of the man, with six warriors rushing 
to take his scalp, and reached the spot in time 
to save his friend. Leaping from the saddle, he 
placed himself before his fallen companion, 
shouting at the same time for his men to rally 
around him, and with deadly aim from his rifle, 
shot down the foremost warrior. 

The trappers now rallied about Carson, and 
the remaining five warriors retired, without 
the scalp of their fallen foe. Only two of them 
reached a place of safety ; for the well aimed 
fire of the trappers leveled them with the earth. 

Carson's horse was loose, and as his comrade 
was safe, he mounted behind one of his men, 
and rode back to the ranks, while, by general 
impulse, the firing upon both sides ceased. 
His horse was captured and restored to him, 
but each party, now thoroughly exhausted, 
seemed to wait for the other to renew the at- 
tack. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 121 

While resting in this attitude, the other 
division of the trappers carne in sight, but the 
Indians, showing no fear, posted themselves 
among the rocks at some distance from the 
scene of the last skirmish, and coolly waited 
for their adversaries. Exhausted ammunition 
had been the cause of the retreat of Carson and 
his force, but now with a renewed supply, and 
an addition of fresh men to the force, they ad- 
vanced on foot to drive the Indians from their 
hiding places. The contest was desperate and 
severe, but powder and ball eventually con- 
quered, and the Indians, once dislodged, scat- 
tered in every direction. The trappers consid- 
ered this a complete victory over the Blackfeet, 
for a large number of their warriors were 
killed, and many more were wounded, while 
they had but three men killed, and a few se- 
verely wounded. 

Fontenelle and his party now camped at the 
scene of the engagement, to recruit their men 
and bury here their dead. Afterward they 
trapped through the whole Blackfeet country, 
and with great success ; going where they 
pleased without fear or molestation. The In- 
dians kept off their route^ evidently having ac- 
quaintance with Carson and his company 



122 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

enough to last tliem their lifetime. With the 
smallpox and the white man's rifles the war- 
riors were much reduced, and the tribe which 
had formerly numbered thirty thousand was 
already decimated, and a few more blows, like 
the one dealt by this dauntless band, would 
suffice to break its spirit, and destroy its power 
for future evil. 

During the battle with the trappers, the 
women and children of the Blackfeet village 
were sent on in advance, and when the engage- 
ment was over, and the braves returned to them 
so much reduced in numbers, and without a 
single scalp, the big lodge that had been erected 
for the war dance was given up for the wounded, 
and in hundreds of Indian hearts grew a bit- 
ter hatred for the white man. 

An express, despatched for the purpose, an- 
nounced the place of the rendezvous to Fonte- 
nelle and Carson, who were now on Green 
River, and with their whole party and a large 
stock of furs, they at once set out for the place 
upon Mud River, to find the sales commenced 
before their arrival, so that in twenty days they 
were ready to break up camp. 

Cai'son now organized a party of seven, and 
proceeded to a trading post called Brown's 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 123 



Hole, where he joined a company of traders to 
go to the Navajoe Indians. He found this 
tribe more assimilated to the white man than 
any Indians he had yet seen, having many fine 
horses and large flocks of sheep and cattle. 
They also possessed the art of weaving, and 
their blankets were in great demand through 
Mexico, bringing high prices, on account of 
their great beauty, being woven in flowers vnth 
much taste. They were evidently a remnant of 
the Aztec race. 

They traded here for a large drove of fine 
mules, which, taken to the fort on the South 
Platte, realized good prices, when Carson went 
again to Brown's Hole, a narrow but pretty 
valley about sixteen miles long, upon the Colo- 
rado Eiver. 

After many offers for his services from other 
parties, Carson at length engaged himself for 
the winter to hunt for the men at this fort, and 
as the game was abundant in this beautiful 
valley, and in the canon country further down 
the Colorado, in its deer, elk, and antelope, re- 
minding him of his hunts upon the Sacramento, 
the task was a delightful one to him. 

In the Spring, Carson trapped with Bridger 
and Owens with passable success, and went to 



124 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

the rendezvous upon Wind River, at the head 
of the Yellowstone, and from thence, with a 
large part of the trappers at the rendezvous, 
to the Yellowstone, where they camped in the 
vicinity for the winter, without seeing their old 
enemy, the Blackfeet Indians, until midwinter, 
when they discovered that they were near their 
principal stronghold. 

A party of forty was selected to give them 
battle, with Carson, of course, for their captain. 
They found the Indians already in the field, to 
the number of several hundred, who made a 
brave resistance, until night and darkness ad- 
monished both parties to retire. In the morn- 
ing, when Carson and hM men went to the spot 
whither the Indians had retired, they were not 
to be found. They had given them a " wide 
berth," taking their all away with them, even 
their dead. 

Carson and his command returned to camp, 
where a council of war decided that as the In- 
dians would report, at the principal encamp- 
ment, the terrible loss they had sustained, and 
others would be sent to renew the fight, it was 
wise to prepare to act on the defensive, and use 
eveiy precaution immediately ; and accordingly 
a sentinel was stationed on a lofty hill near by, 




Carson and his Command on the March.— Page 124, 

Kit Carson. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 125 

who soon reported that the Indians were upon 
the move. 

Their plans matured, they at once threw up 
a breastwork, under Carson's direction, and 
waited the approach of the Indians, who came 
in slowly, the first parties waiting for those be- 
hind. After three days, a full thousand had 
reached the camp, about half a mile from the 
breastwork of the trappers. In their war paint 
— stripes of red across the forehead, and down 
either cheek — with their bows and arrows, 
tomahawks, and lances, this army of Indians 
presented a formidable appearance to the small 
body of trappers who were opposed to them. 

The war dance was enacted in sight and hear- 
ing of the trappers, and at early dawn the In- 
dians advanced, having made every preparation 
for the attack. Carson commanded his men to 
reserve their fire till the Indians were near 
enough to have every shot tell ; but seeing the 
strength of the white men's position, after a 
few ineffectual shots, the Indians retired, camped 
a mile from them, and finally separated into two 
parties, and went away, leaving the trappers to 
breathe more freely, for, at the best, the en- 
counter must have been of a desperate char- 
acter. 



126 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

They evidently recognized the leader who 
had before dealt so severely with them, in the 
skill with which the defense was arranged, and 
if the name of Kit Carson was on their lips, 
they knew him for both bravery and magna- 
nimity, and had not the courage to offer him 
battle. 

Another winter gone, saddlery, moccasin- 
making, lodge-building, to complete the repairs 
of the summer's wars and the winter's fight, 
all completed, Carson with fifteen men went, 
past Fort Hall, again to the Salmon River, and 
trapped part of the season there and upon Big 
Snake and Goose Creeks, and selling his furs 
at Fort Hall, again joined Bridger in another 
trapping excursion into the Blackfeet country. 

The Blackfeet had molested the traps of an- 
other party who had arrived there before them 
and had driven them away. The Indian as- 
sailants were still near, and Carson led his party 
against them, taking care to station himself and 
men in the edge of a thicket, where they kept 
the savages at bay all day, taking a man from 
their number with nearly every shot of their 
well directed rifles. In vain the Indians now 
attempted to fire the thicket ; it would not burn, 
and suddenly they retired, forced again to 



.- LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 127 

/ acknowledge defeat at the hands of Kit Carson, j 
V the " Monarch of the prairies." ,-^ --'"'' 

--Carson's party now joined with the others, 
but concluding that they could not trap suc- 
cessfully with the annoyance the Indians were 
likely to give them, as their force was too small 
to hope to conquer, they left this part of the 
country for the north fork of the Missouri. 

Now they were with the friendly Flatheads, 
one of whose chiefs joined them in the Imnt, 
and went into camp near them, with a party of 
his braves. This tribe of Indians, like several 
other tribes which extend along this latitude to 
the Pacific, have the custom which gives them 
their name, thus described by Irving, in speak- 
ing of the Indians upon the Lower Columbia, 
about its mouth. 

" A most singular custom," he says, " prevails, 
not only among the Chinooks, but among most 
of the tribes about this part of the coast, which 
is the flattening of the forehead. The process 
by which this deformity is effected, commences 
immediately after birth. The infant is laid in 
a wooden trough, by way of cradle. The end 
on which the head reposes is higher than the 
rest. A padding is placed on the forehead of 
the infant, with a piece of bark above it, and is 



J 28 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

pressed down by cords wMcli pass tlirougli holes 
upon the sides of the trough. As the tightening 
of the padding and the pressure of the head to 
the board is gradual, the process is said not to 
be attended with pain. The appearance of the 
infant, however, w^hile in this state of compres- 
sion is whimsically hideous, and ' its little black 
eyes,' we are told, ' being forced out by the 
tightness of the bandages, resemble those of a 
mouse choked in a trap.' 

" About a year's pressure is sufficient to pro- 
duce the desired effect, at the end of which time, 
the child emerges from its bandages, a complete 
flathead, and continues so through life. It must 
be noted, however, that this flattening of the 
head has something in it of aristocratic signifi- 
cance, like the crippling of the feet among the 
Chinese ladies of quality. At any rate, it is the 
sign of freedom. No slave is permitted to be- 
stow this deformity upon the head of his chil- 
dren ; all the slaves, therefore, are roundheads." 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 129 



CHAPTER XV. 

In the spring, Kit Carson proposed a differ- 
ent plan of operations ; lie went to hunt on the 
streams in the vicinage of his winter's camp with 
only a single companion. The Utah Indians, 
into whose country he came, were also friends 
of Carson, and, unmolested in his business, his 
efforts were crowned ^vith abundant success. 
He took his furs to Robideau Fort, and with a 
party of ^ve went to Grand River, and thence 
to Brown's Hole on Green River for the 
winter. 

In the following spring he went to the Utah 
country, to the streams that flow into Great 
Salt Lake on the South, which was rich in furs 
and of exceeding beauty, with the points of 
grand old snow mountains ever in sight, around 
him. 

From here he went to the New Fork, and as 
it was afterward described by a party for whom 
Carson was the guide, we shall not give the 
description at this point of our narrative. Again 



130 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

he trapped among the Utahs, and disposed of 
his furs at Robideau Fort ; but now the prices 
did not please him. Beaver fur was at a dis- 
count, and the trade of the trapper becoming 
unprofitable. 

Baird, in his general report upon mammals, 
uses the following language, which is appropri- 
ate in this connection : 

" The beaver once inhabited all of the globe 
lying in the northern temperate zone ; yet from 
Europe, China, and all the eastern portion of 
the United States, it has been entirely extermi- 
nated, and a war so universal and relentless has 
been waged upon this defenseless animal, his 
great intelligence has been so generally opposed 
by the intelligence of man, it has seemed certain, 
unless some kind providence should interpose, 
that the castor, like its congener, the Castorides, 
would soon be found only in a fossil state. 

"Happily that providence did interpose, 
through a certain ingenious somebody, who first 
suggested the use of silk in the place of fur for 
the covering of hats. The beaver were not yet 
exterminated from Western America, and now, 
since they are not " worth killing," in those in- 
hospitable regions, where there is no encourage- 
ment for American enterprise or cupidity, we 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 131 

may hope that the beaver will there retain ex- 
istence, in a home exclusively their own. 

" The price of beaver skins had so much 
diminished that they were offered to some of 
the party at twenty -five cents by the bale." 
k..Oarson had pursued the business of trapping 
fgr^ei ght year s, and his life had been one of un- 
jpeasing toil, of extreme hardship, full of danger, 
yet withal full of interest. More than this, 
while the lack of early scientific training had 
prevented him from making that record of his 
travels, which would have given the world the 
benefit of his explorations, he had treasured in 
his memory the knowledge of localities, of their 
conditions, and seasons, and advantages, which, 
in the good time coming, would enable him to 
associate his labors with another, who possessed 
the scientific attainments which Carson lacked, 
and who with Carson's invaluable assistance 
would come to be known world-wide as a bold 
explorer, and who, but for Carson's experience, 
where such experience was a chief requisite to 
success, might have failed in his first efforts in 
the grand enterprise entrusted to him. 

Carson knew the general features of the 
country, its mountains, plains, and rivers, and 
the minor points of animal and vegetable pro- 



132 UFE OF KIT CARSON. 

ductions, from the head waters of the " mon- 
arch of rivers," to the mouth of the Colorado, 
and fi'om the southern Arkansas to the Colum- 
bia, better, perhaps, than any one living, though 
yet but twenty-five years of age. 

We left Carson at Robideau Fort, tired of the 
pursuit of trapping, as soon as it had become 
unprofitable, and while there, he arranged with 
three or four other trappers to come down to 
Bent's Fort. The trip was like others made at 
this season, through a country where the rifie 
would supply food for the party, and arri^dng 
at Bent's Fort, where his name was already 
well-known, Carson could not long be idle. He 
engaged himself to Messrs. Bent and St. Vrain, 
as hunter to the fort, preferring this by far to 
the idea of seeking employment nearer civilized 
life. Indeed no situation could have pleased 
him better, if we may judge from the fact that 
he continued in it for eight years, and until the 
connection with his employers was broken by 
the death of one of the partners. Colonel Bent. 

Governor Bent, since appointed to the office 
of chief magistrate of New Mexico, by the United 
States Government, had been killed by Mexi- 
can Indians, and was universally mourned by 
Americans and Indians wherever he was known. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 133 

Mr. St. Vrain, the other partner, was active dur- 
ing the Mexican war, since the date of which 
we write, still lives, and is esteemed, as a father, 
by many an early mountaineer. Carson owed 
him gratitude for kindly sympathy and words 
of counsel, when yet a youth he was com- 
mencing his mountain life, and Dr. Peters, the 
first biographer of Kit Carson, dedicates his book 
to Colonel St. Vrain, asserting that he was the 
first to discover and direct Carson's talents to 
the path in which they were employed. For 
both of these gentlemanly proprietors, Carson 
cherished a warm friendship, nor was there ever 
an unpleasant occurrence between them. 

When game was plenty, he supplied the 
forty mouths to be filled with ease, but when it 
was scarce, his task was sometimes difficult, but 
skill and experience enabled him to triumph 
over every obstacle. 

It is not strange that with such long experi- 
ence Carson became the most skilful of hunt- 
ers, and won the name of the " Nestor of the 
Rocky Mountains." Among the Indians he had\ 
earned the undisputed title of " Monarch of the ■ 
Prairies." 

But while he killed thousands of elk, deer 
and antelope, nor disdained the rabbit and the 



134 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 

grouse, and took the wild goose on the wing, of 
all the game of beast or bird, he liked the best 
to hunt the buffalo, for there was an excite- 
ment in the chase of that noble animal which 
aroused his spirits to the highest pitch of ex- 
citement. 

Assuredly, Christopher Carson's is " a life 
out of the usual routine, and checkered with 
adventures which have sorely tested the cour- 
age and endurance of this wonderful man.'* 
Colonel St. Vrain, in the preface to Peters' Life 
of Carson, says : 

" Entering upon his life work at the age of 
seventeen, choosing now to think for himself, 
nor follow the lead of those who would detain 
him in a quiet life, while he felt the restless fire 
' in his bones,' that forbade his burying his 
energy in merely mechanical toil, he had yet 
been directed in his choice, by the fitness for 
it the pursuits of youth had given, and spurn- 
ing the humdrum monotony of the shop, gave 
himself entirely to what would most aid him 
in attaining the profession he had chosen. We 
must admire such spirit in a youth, for it augurs 
well for the energy and will power of the man- 
hood ; therefore, when the biographer says of 
Christopher Carson, that the neighbors who 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 135 

knew him predicted an uncommon life in the 
child with whom they hunted, and conceded to 
him positions, as well as privileges, that were 
not accorded to common men, with his life till 
thirty-three before us, we feel that he has ful- 
filled the hope of early promise, with a noble 
manhood." 

We had followed Carson's pathway, without 
much of detail, to the localities where he prac- 
tised the profession he had chosen, until we 
saw him leave it because it ceased longer to af- 
ford compensation for his toil, and during as 
long a period we have written of his quiet pur- 
suit of the, to him, pleasant, but laborious life 
of a hunter ; unless we must class the latter 
eight years with the former, and assume each 
as a part of the profession he had chosen. 

In all, with perhaps the exception of a few 
weeks at Santa Fe, when still in his minority, 
we have found him ever strong to resist the 
thousand temptations to evil with which his 
pathway was beset, and which drew other men 
away. Strong ever in the maintenance of the 
integrity of his manhood, even when the con- 
vivial circle and the game had a brief fascination 
for him, they taught him the lesson which he 
needed to learn, that only by earnest resistance, 



136 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

can evil be overcome ; and thus he was enabled 
to admonish others against those temptations 
which had once overcome even his powers of 
resistance ; and so he learned to school himself 
to the idea, that good comes ever through the 
temptation to evil to all those who have the 
•courage to extract it. 

We have followed him up and down all the 
streams of our great central western wilds, and 
indicated the store of geographic knowledge 
which he had acquitted by hard experience be- 
fore they were known so far to any one besides ; 
and then for eight years more we have seen 
that this knowledge was digested and reviewed 
in the social circle with other mountain trappers, 
and beside ihe lonely mountain river, and.!neath 
the wild, steep cliif ; or on the grassy bottom, 
or the barren plain, and in the less sterile places 
where the sage hen found a covert, and up 
among the oak openings, and in the gigantic 
parks, where, as a hunter, he revisited old 
haunts. 

In all his toilsome and adventurous enter- 
prises, while he sought to benefit himself, he 
never turned away, nor failed to lend a helping 
hand to a needy, suffering brother, or to encour- 
age one who needed such a lesson, to turn his 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 137 

youth to the most account ; and if affectionate 
regard is a recompense for such service, he had 
his compensation, as he passed along the path 
he had marked out for himself, not from the 
white man alone, but from the Indian who 
everywhere came to look upon Kit Carson as 
his friend. 

The Camanches, the Arapahoes, the Utahs, 
and the Cheyennes, besides several smaller 
tribes, knew him personally in the hunt, and he 
had sat by their camp fires, and dandled theii' 
children, and sung to them the ditty, 

"What makes the lamb love Mary so ? 
The eager children cry ; 
Why Mary loves the lamb, you know, 
And that's the reason why." 

The Indians feared, and reverenced, and 
loved him, and that this latter may be proved 
to the reader we relate the following story of 
private history, nor will it be esteemed out of 
taste : 

The powerful Sioux had come from the north 
beyond their usual hunting grounds, and had 
had skirmishes with several Indian bands, some 
of whom sent for Carson to the Upper Arkan- 
sas to come over and help them drive back the 



138 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Sioux. As the larder at the fort was full, he 
consented to go with the war-painted Camanche 
messengers to a camp of their tribe, united with 
a band of Arapahoes. They told him the Sioux 
had a thousand warriors and many rifles, and 
they feared them, but knew that the " Monarch 
of the Prairies " could overcome them. Carson 
sat in council with the chiefs, and finally, in- 
stead of encouraging them to fight, persuaded 
them to peace, and acted so successfully the 
part of mediator, that the Sioux consented to 
retire from the hunting grounds of the Ca- 
manches when the season was over, and they 
separated without a collision. 

It was while engaged as hunter for Messrs. 
Bent and St. Vrain, Carson took to himself an 
Indian wife, by whom he had a daughter still 
living, and who forms the connecting link be- 
tween his past hardships, and his present great- 
ness ; for that he is emphatically a great man, 
the whole civilized world has acknowledged. 

The mother died soon after her birth, and 
Carson feeling that his rude cabin was scarcely 
the place to rear his child, determined, when 
of a suitable age, to take her to St. Louis, and 
secure for her those advantages of education 
which circumstances had denied to him ; and 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 1^9 

accordingly, when his engagement at the fort 
had expired, he determined to go to St. Louis 
for that purpose, embracing on the route the 
opportunity of visiting the home of his boyhood, 
which he had not seen for sixteen years. 

Of course he found everything changed. 
Many of those whom he had known as men 
and heads of families, were now grown old, 
while more had died off ; but by those to whom 
he was made known, he was recognized with a 
heartiness of welcome which brought tears to 
his eyes, though his heart was saddened at the 
changes which time had wrought. His fame 
had preceded him, and his welcome was there- 
fore doubly cordial, for he had more than veri- 
fied the promise of his youth. 

Thence he proceeded to St. Louis, with the 
intention of placing his daughter at school, but 
here, to his great amazement, he found himself 
a lion ; for the advent of such a man in such a 
city, which had so often rung with his deeds 
of daring and suffering, could not be permitted 
to remain among its citizens unknown or unrec- 
ognized. He was courted and feted, and, 
though gratified at the attentions showered 
upon him, found himself so thoroughly out of 
his element, that he longed to return to more 



j^40 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

pleasant and more familiar scenes, his old hunt- 
ing grounds. 

Having accomplished the object of his visit 
to St. Louis, in placing his daughter under 
proper guardianship^, he left the city, carrying 
with him pleasing, because merited remem- 
bmnces of the attentions paid to him, and leash- 
ing behind him impressions of the most favor- 
able character. 

Soon after he reached St. Louis, he had the 
good fortune to fall in with Lieutenant Fremont, 
who was there organizing a party for the ex- 
ploration of the far western country, as yet un- 
known, and who was anxiously awaiting the 
arrival of Captain Drips, a well kno^vn trader 
and trapper, who had been highly recommended 
to him as a guide. 

Kit Carson's name and fame were familiar as 
household words to Fremont, and he gladly 
availed himself of his proifered services in lieu 
of those of Captain Drips. It did not take long 
for two such men as John C. Fremont and Kit 
Carson to become thoroughly acquainted with 
each other, and the accidental meeting at St. 
Louis resulted in the cementing of a friendship 
which has never been impaired, — ^won as it was 
on the one part by fidelity, truthfulness, integ- 



I vr 






LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 141 



rity, and courage, united to vast experience and 
consummate skill in the prosecution of tlie duty 
lie had assumed — on the other by every quality 
which commands honor, regard, esteem, and 
high personal devotion. 

And now Carson's life has commenced in 
earnest, for heretofore he has only been fitting 
himself to live. His name is embodied in the 
archives of our country's history, and no one 
has been more ready to accord to him the credit 
he so well earned, as has he who had the good 
fortune to secure, at the same time, the services 
of the most experienced guide of his day, and 
the devotion of a friend. 

Lieutenant Fremont had instructions to ex- 
plore and report upon the country lying between 
the frontiers of Missouri and the South Pass in 
the Rocky Mountains, on the line of the Kansas 
and Grreat Platte Rivers, and with his party, 
leaving St. Louis on the 22d of May, 1842, 
by steamboat for Chouteau's Landing on the 
Missouri, near the mouth of the Kansas, at a 
point twelve miles beyond at Chouteau's trading 
post, he encamped there to complete his arrange- 
ments for this important expedition. 



142 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Fremont was delayed several days at Chou- 
teau's Landing, by tlie state of tlie weather, 
whicli prevented the necessary astronomical 
observations, but finally all his arrangements 
being completed, and the weather permitting, 
the party started in the highest spirit, and filled 
with anticipations of an exciting and adventur- 
ous journey. 

He had collected in the neighborhood of St. 
Louis twenty-one men, principally Creole and 
Canadian voyageurs^ who had become familiar 
with prairie life in the service of the fur com- 
panies in the Indian country. Mr. Charles 
Preuss, a native of Germany, was his assistant 
in the topographical part of the survey. L. 
Maxwell, of Kaskaskia, had been engaged as 
hunter, and Christopher Carson as guide. 

Mr. Cyprian Chouteau, to whose kindness, 
during their stay at his house, all were much 
indebted, accompanied them several miles on 
their way, until they met an Indian, whom he 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 143 

had engaged to conduct them on the first thirty 
or forty miles, where he was to consign them 
to the ocean prairie, which stretched, without 
interruption, almost to the base of the Rocky 
Mountains. 

During the journey, it was the customary 
practise to encamp an hour or two before sun- 
set, when the carts were disposed so as to form 
a sort of barricade around a circle some eighty 
yards in diameter. The tents were pitched, 
and the horses hobbled and turned loose to 
graze; and but a few minutes elapsed before 
the cooks of the messes, of which there were 
four, were busily engaged in preparing the 
evening meal. At nightfall, the horses, mules, 
and oxen, were driven in and picketed — that is, 
secured by a halter, of which one end was tied 
to a small steel-shod picket, and driven into 
the ground ; the halter being twenty or thirty 
feet long, which enabled them to obtain a little 
food during the night. When they had 
reached a part of the country where such a 
precaution became necessary, the carts being 
regularly arranged for defending the camp, 
guard was mounted at eight o'clock, consisting 
of three men, who were relieved every two 
hours ; the morning watch being horse guard 



144 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. • 

for the day. At daybreak, the camp was 
roused, the animals turned loose to graze, and 
breakfast generally over between six and 
seven o'clock, when they resumed their march, 
making regularly a halt at noon for one or 
two hours. Such was usually the order of the 
day except when accident of country forced 
a variation, which, however, happened but 
rarely. 

They reached the ford of the Kansas late in 
the afternoon of the 14th, where the river was 
two hundred and thirty yards wide, and com- 
menced immediately preparations for crossing. 
The river had been swollen by the late rains, 
and was sweeping by with an angry current, 
yellow and turbid as the Missouri. Up to 
this point, the road traveled was a remarkably 
fine one, well beaten and level — the usual 
road of a prairie country. By this route, the 
ford was one hundred miles from the mouth 
of the Kansas River, on reaching which several 
mounted men led the way into the stream, to 
swim across. The animals were driven in after 
them, and in a few minutes all had reached 
the opposite bank in safety, with the exception 
of the oxen, which swam some distance down 
the river, and, returning to the right bank, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 145 

were not got over until tlie next morning. In 
the meantime, the carts had been unloaded and 
dismantled, and an India-rubber boat, which 
had been brought for the survey of the Platte 
River, placed in the water. The boat was 
twenty feet long and five broad, and on it were 
placed the body and wheels of a cart, with the 
load belonging to it, and three men with pad- 
dles. 

The velocity of the current, and the incon- 
venient freight, rendering it difficult to be 
managed, Basil Lajeunesse, one of the best 
swimmers, took in his teeth a line attached to 
the boat and swam ahead in order to reach a 
footing as soon as possible, and assist in draw- 
ing her over. In this manner, six passages 
had been successfully made, and as many carts 
with their contents, and a greater portion of the 
party, deposited on the left bank ; but night 
was dravdng near, and in his great anxiety to 
complete the crossing before darkness set in, 
he put on the boat, contrary to the advice of 
Carson, the last two carts with their loads. 
The consequence was, the boat was capsized, 
and everything on board was in a moment 
floating down stream. They were all, how- 
ever, eventually recovered, but not without 

lO 



146 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

great trouble. Carson and Maxwell, wlio had 
been in tlie water nearly all tbe succeeding day, 
searching for tlie lost articles, were taken so 
ill in consequence of the prolonged exposure, 
the party was obliged to lie by another day to 
enable them to recruit, for to proceed without 
them would have been folly. 

The dense timber which suiTounded their 
camp, interfering with astronomical observa- 
tions, and the wet and damaged stores requiring 
exposure to the sun, the tents were struck 
early the next day but one after this disaster, 
and the party moved up the river about seven 
miles, where they camped upon a handsome 
open prairie, some twenty feet above the 
water, and where the fine grass afforded a lux- 
urious repast to the weary animals. They lay 
in camp here two days, during which time the 
men were kept busy in drying the provisions, 
painting the cart covers, and otherwise com- 
pleting their equipage, until the afternoon 
when powder was distributed to them, and 
they spent some hours in firing at a mark, as 
they were now fairly in the Indian country, 
and it began to be time to prepare for the 
chances of the wilderness. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSONv 147 



CHAPTER XVIl. 

Leaving the river bottom, the road which 
was the Oregon trail, past Foil; Laramie, — ^ran 
along the uplands, over a rolling country, upon 
which were scattered many boulders of red 
sand -stone, some of them of several tons weight ; 
and many beautiful plants and flowers enlivened 
the prairie. The barometer indicated fourteen 
hundred feet above the level of the sea, and the 
elevation appeared to have its influence on 
vegetation. 

The country became more broken, rising still 
and covered everywhere with fragments of 
silicious limestone, strewn over the earth like 
pebbles on the sea shore ; especially upon the 
summits and exposed situations ; and in these 
places but few plants grew, while in the creek 
bottoms, and ravines, a great variety of plants 
flourished. 

For several days they continued their jour- 
ney, annoyed only by the lack of water, and 
at length reached the range of the Pawnees 



148 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

who infested that part of the country, stealing 
horses from companies on their way to the 
mountains, and when in sufficient force, openly 
attacking them, and subjecting them to various 
insults ; and it was while encamped here, that 
a regular guard was mounted for the first time, 
but the night passed over without annoyance. 

Speaking of the constant watchfulness re- 
quired when in the neighborhood of hostile or 
thieving Indians, Fremont says, 

" The next morning we had a specimen of 
the false alarms to which all parties in these 
wild regions are subject. Proceeding up the 
valley, objects were seen on the opposite hills, 
which disappeared before a glass could be 
brought to bear upon them. A man, who was 
a short distance in the rear, came spurring up 
in great haste, shouting, Indians ! Indians ! 
He had been near enough to see and count 
them, according to his report, and had made 
out twenty-seven. I immediately halted ; arms 
were examined and put in order ; the usual 
preparations made; and Kit Carson, springing 
upon one of the hunting horses, crossed the 
river, and galloped off into the opposite prairies, 
to obtain some certain intelligence of their 
movements. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 149 

" Mounted on a fine horse, without a saddle, 
and scouring bareheaded over the prairies, Kit 
was one of the finest pictures of a horseman I 
have ever seen. A short time enabled him to 
discover that the Indian war party of twenty- 
seven consisted of six elk, who had been gazing 
curiously at our caravan as it passed by, and 
were now scampering oif at full speed. This 
was our first alarm, and its excitement broke 
agreeably on the monotony of the day. At 
our noon halt, the men were exercised at a 
target ; and in the evening we pitched our 
tents at a Pawnee encampment of last July. 
They had apparently killed buffalo here, as 
many bones were lying about, and the frames 
where the hides had been stretched were yet 
standing." 

Leaving the fork of the " Blue," upon a high 
dividing ridge, in about twenty-one miles they 
reached the coast of the Platte, or Nebraska 
Eiver as it is called, a line of low hills, or the 
break from the prairie to the river bottom. 
Cacti here were numerous, and the amorjplia^ 
remarkable for its large' and luxuriant purple 
clusters, was in full bloom. From the foot of 
the coast, two miles across the level bottom, 
brought them to the shore of the river twenty 



150 LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 

miles below tlie head of Grand Island, and 
more tlian three hundred from the mouth of the 
Kansas. The elevation of the Platte valley 
here was about two thousand feet above the 
level of the sea. 

The next day they met a party of fourteen, 
who had started sixty days before from Fort 
Laramie, in barges laden with furs for the 
American Fur Company, hoping to come down 
the Platte without difficulty, as they left upon 
the annual flood, and their boats drew only 
nine inches of water. But at Scott's bluffs, 
one hundred and thirty miles below Foi-t Lar- 
amie, the river became so broad and shallow, 
and the current so changeful among the sand- 
bars, that they abandoned their boats and 
cached their cargoes, and were making the rest 
of their journey to St. Louis on foot, each with 
a pack as large as he could carry. 

In the interchange of news, and the re- 
newal of old acquaintanceships, they found 
wherewithal to fill a busy hour. Among them 
Fremont had found an old companion on the 
northern prairie, a hardened and hardly served 
veteran of the mountains, who had been as 
much hacked and scarred as an old moustache 
of Napoleon's " old guard." He flourished in 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 151 

the sobriquet of La Tulipe, and his real name no 
one knew. Finding that he was going to the 
States only because his company was bound in 
that direction, and that he was rather more 
willing to return with Fremont, he was taken 
again into his service. 

A few days more of travel, whose monotony 
was not relieved by any incident worth narrat- 
ing, brought the party in sight of the buffalo, 
swarming in immense numbers over the plains, 
where they had left scarcely a blade of grass 
standing. "Mr. Preuss," says Fremont, "who 
was sketching at a little distance in the rear, had 
at first noted them as large groves of timber. 
In the sight of such a mass of life, the traveler 
feels a strange emotion of grandeur. We had 
heard from a distance a dull and confused mur- 
muring, and when we came in view of their dark 
masses, there was not one among us who did not 
feel his heart beat quicker. It was the early 
part of the day, when the herds are feeding ; 
and everywhere they were in motion. Here 
and there a huge old bull was rolling in the 
grass, and clouds of dust rose in the air from 
various parts of the bands, each the scene of 
some obstinate fight. Indians and buffalo make 
the poetiy and life of the prairie, and our camp 



152 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

was full of tlieir exhilaration. In place of the 
quiet monotony of the march, relieved only by 
the cracking of the whip, and an ^ avance doiic ! 
enfant de grace ! ' shouts and songs resounded 
from every part of the line, and our evening 
camp was always the commencement of a feast, 
which terminated only with our departure on 
the following morning. At any time in the 
night might be seen pieces of the most delicate 
meat, roasting en appolas^ on sticks around the 
fire, and the guard were never without company. 
With pleasant weather, and no enemy to fear, 
an abundance of the most excellent meat, and 
no scarcity of bread or tobacco, they were en- 
joying the oasis of a voyageur's life." 

Three cows were killed on that day, but a 
serious accident befell Carson in the course of 
the chase, which had nearly cost him his life. 
Kit had shot one, and was continuing the chase 
in the midst of another herd, when his horse 
fell headlong, but sprang up and joined the fly- 
ing band. Though considerably hurt, he had 
the good fortune to break no bones ; and Max- 
well, who was mounted on a fleet hunter, cap- 
tured the runaway after a hard chase. He was 
on the point of shooting him, to avoid the loss 
of his bridle (a handsomely mounted Spanish 




Carson in his favorite pursuit of Buffalo hunting.— Page 152. 

Kit Carson. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. I53 

one), when lie found that his horse was able to 
come up with him. 

This mishap, however, did not deter Kit from 
his favorite pursuit of buffalo-hunting, for on 
the following day, notwithstanding his really 
serious accident, we find him ready and eager 
for another chase. Fremont in his narrative 
thus relates the occurrence : — 

" As we were riding quietly along the bank, 
a grand herd of buffalo, some seven or eight 
hundred in number, came crowding up from the 
river, where they had been to drink, and com- 
menced crossing the plain slowly, eating as they 
went. The wind was favorable ; the coolness 
of the morning invited to exercise ; the ground 
was apparently good, and the distance across 
the prairie (two or three miles) gave us a fine 
opportunity to charge them before they could 
get among the river hills. It was too fine a 
prospect for a chase to be lost ; and halting for 
a few moments, the hunters were brought up 
and saddled, and Kit Carson, Maxwell, and I, 
started together. They were now somewhat 
less than half a mile distant, and we rode easily 
along until within about three hundred yards, 
when a sudden agitation, a wavering in the 
band, and a galloping to and fro of some which 



154 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

were scattered along the skirts, gave us the in- 
timation that we were discovered. We started 
together at a hand gallop, riding steadily abreast 
of each other, and here the interest of the chase 
became so engrossingly intense, that we were 
sensible to nothing else. We were now closing 
upon them rapidly, and the front of the mass 
was already in rapid motion for the hills, and 
in a few seconds the movement had communi- 
cated itself to the whole herd. 

" A crowd of bulls, as usual, brought up the 
rear, and every now and then some of them 
faced about, and then dashed on after the band 
a short distance, and turned and looked again, 
as if more than half inclined to stand and fight. 
In a few moments, however, during which we 
had been quickening our pace, the rout was 
universal, and we were going over the ground 
like a hurricane. When at about thirty yards, 
we gave the usual shout (the hunter's jpas de 
charge)^ and broke into the herd. We entered 
on the side, the mass giving way in eveiy direc- 
tion in their heedless course. Many of the bulls, 
less active and less fleet than the cows, paying 
no attention to the ground, and occupied solely 
with the hunter, were precipitated to the earth 
with great force, rolling over and over with the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 155 

violence of the shock, and hardly distinguish- 
able in the dust. We separated on entering, 
each singling out his game. 

" My horse was a trained hunter, famous in 
the west under the name of Proveau, and with 
his eyes flashing, and the foam flying from his 
mouth, sprang on after the cow like a tiger. 
In a few moments he brought me alongside of 
her, and rising in the stirrups, I fired at the 
distance of a yard, the ball entering at the ter- 
mination of the long hair, and passing near the 
heart. She fell headlong at the report of the 
gun, and, checking my horse, I looked around 
for my companions. 

" At a little distance. Kit was on the ground, 
engaged in tying his horse to the horns of a 
cow which he was preparing to cut up. Among 
the scattered bands, at some distance below, I 
caught a glimpse of Maxwell ; and while I was 
looking, a light wreath of white smoke curled 
away from his gun, from which I was too far 
to hear the report. Nearer, and between me 
and the hills, towards which they were direct- 
ing their course, was the body of the herd, and 
giving my horse the rein, we dashed after them. 
A thick cloud of dust hung upon their rear, 
which filled my mouth and eyes, and nearly 



166 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

smothered me. In the midst of this I could 
see nothing, and the buffalo were not distin- 
guishable until within thirty feet. 

"They crowded together more densely still 
as I came upon them, and rushed along in 
such a compact body, that I could not obtain 
an entrance — the horse almost leaping upon 
them. In a few moments the mass divided to 
the right and left, the horns clattering with a 
noise heard above everything else, and my 
horse darted into the opening. 

" Five or six bulls charged on us as we dashed 
along the line, but were left far behind ; and 
singling out a cow, I gave her my fire, but 
struck too high. She gave a tremendous leap^ 
and scoured on swifter than before. I reined 
up my horse, and the band swept on like a tor- 
rent, and left the place quiet and clear. Our 
chase had led us into dangerous ground. A 
prairie-dog village, so thickly settled that there 
were three or four holes in every twenty yards 
square, occupied the whole bottom for nearly 
two miles in length. Looking around, I saw 
only one of the hunters, nearly out of sight, 
and the long dark line of our caravan crawling 
along, three or four miles distant" 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 157 



CHAPTER XVIIL 

The encampment of the party on the 4tli of 
July, was a few miles from where the road 
crosses over to the north fork of the Platte, 
where a grand dinner was prepared, toasts 
drank, and salutes fired ; and it was here Fre- 
mont decided to divide his party, wishing, him- 
self, to explore the south fork of the Platte, as 
far as St. Vrain's Fort ; and taking with him 
Maxwell and two others of his men, and the 
Cheyenne Indians, whose village .was upon 
this river, he left the rest of the party to pro- 
ceed under the direction of Clement Lambert 
up the north fork to Fort Laramie, where they 
were to wait his arrival, as he intended to cross 
the country between the two forts. 

Buifalo were still plenty upon Fremont's 
route, and the Indians with him made an un- 
successful attempt to lasso the leader of a drove 
of wild horses, which they passed. They met 
a band of two or three hundred Arapahoe 
Indians, and were only saved from an attack 



158 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

by Maxwell, who secured a timely recognition 
from tlie old chief who led the party, which 
proved to be from a village among whom he 
had resided as a trader, and whose camp the 
chief pointed out to them some six miles dis- 
tant. They had come out to surround a band 
of buffalo which was feeding across the river, 
and were making a large circuit to avoid giving 
them the wind, when they discovered Fre- 
mont's party, whom they had mistaken for 
Pawnees. In a few minutes the women came 
galloping up, astride of their horses, and naked 
from their knees down, and the hips ap. They 
followed the men to assist in cutting up and 
carrying oif the meat. 

The wind was blowing directly across the 
river, and the chief having requested Fremont 
to remain where he then was, to avoid raising: 
the herd, he readily consented, and having un- 
saddled their horses, they sat down to view the 
scene. The day had become very hot, the ther- 
mometer standing at 108°. The Indians com- 
menced crossing the river, and as soon as they 
were upon the other side, separated into two 
bodies. 

Fremont thus describes this exciting hunt, 
or massacre, as the reader may choose to des« 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 159 

ignate it, — and his subsequent visit to the Ara- 
pahoe village : 

" One party proceeded directly across the 
prairie, towards the hills, in -an extended line, 
while the other went up the river ; and in- 
stantly, as they had given the wind to the herd, 
the chase commenced. The buffalo started for 
the hills, but were intercepted and driven back 
toward the river, broken and running in every 
direction. The clouds of dust soon covered the 
whole scene, preventing us from having any but 
an occasional view. It had a very singular 
appearance to us at a distance, especially when 
looking with the glass. 

" We were too far to hear the report of the 
guns, or any sound, and at every instant, 
through the clouds of dust, which the sun made 
luminous, we could see for a moment two or 
three buffalo dashing along, and close behind 
them an Indian with his long spear, or other 
weapon, and instantly again they disappeared. 
The apparent silence, and the dimly seen figures 
flitting by with such rapidity, gave it a kind of 
dreamy effect, and seemed more like a picture 
than a scene of real life. 

" It had been a large herd when the cerTie 
commenced, probably three or four hundred in 



160 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

number ; but though I watched them closely, 
I did not see one emerge from the fatal cloud 
where the work of destruction was going on. 
After remaining here about an hour, we re- 
sumed our journey in the direction of the village. 

" Gradually, as we rode on, Indian after In- 
dian came dropping along, laden with meat ; 
and by the time we had reached the lodges, the 
backward road was covered with the returning 
horsemen. It was a pleasant contrast with the 
desert road we had been travelingo Several 
had joined company with us, and one of the 
chiefs invited us to his lodge. 

" The village consisted of about one hundred 
and twenty -five lodges, of which twenty were 
Cheyennes ; the latter pitched a little apart 
from the Arapahoes. They were disposed in a 
scattering manner on both sides of a broad, 
irregular street, about one hundred and fifty 
feet wide, and running along the river„ As we 
rode along, I remarked near some of the lodges 
a kind of tripod frame, formed of three slender 
poles of birch, scraped very clean, to which were 
affixed the shield and spear, with some other 
weapons of a chief. All were scrupulously 
clean, the spear head was burnished bright, and 
the shield white and stainless. It reminded me 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 101 

of the days of feudal chivalry ; and when, as I 
rode by, I yielded to the passing impulse, and 
touched one of the spotless shields with the 
muzzle of my gun, I almost expected a grim 
warrior to start from the lodge and resent my 
challenge. 

" The master of the lodge spread out a robe 
for me to sit upon, and the squaws set before 
us a large wooden dish of buffalo meat. He 
had lit his pipe in the meanwhile, and when it 
had been passed around, we commenced our 
dinner while he continued to smoke. Gradu- 
ally, five or six other chiefs came in, and took 
their seats in silenceo When we had finished 
our host asked a number of questions relative 
to the object of our journey, of which I made 
no concealment ; telling him simply that I had 
made a visit to see the country, preparatory to 
the establishment of military posts on the way 
to the mountains. 

" Although this was information of the 
highest interest to them, and by no means 
calculated to please them, it excited no expres- 
sion of surprise, and in no way altered the grave 
courtesy of their demeanor. The others listened 
and smoked. I remarked, that in taking the 

pipe for the first time, each had turned the stem 
n 



162 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

upward, with a rapid glance, as in offering 
to the Great Spirit, before he put it in his mouth." 

Riding near the river, Fremont and Maxwell 
had an interview with Jim Beckwith, who had 
been chief of the Crow Indians, but had left 
them some time before, and was now residing 
in this river bottom, with his wife, a Spanish 
woman from Taos. They also passed a camp 
of four or five New Engianders, with Indian 
wives — a party of independent trappers, and 
reached St. Vrain's Fort on the evening of July 
10th, where they were hospitably entertained 
by Mr. St. Vrain, and received from him such 
needed assistance as he was able to render. 
Maxwell was at home here, as he had spent the 
last two or three years between the fort and 
Taos. 

On the evening of the fifteenth, they arrived 
at Fort Laramie, a post of the Americ^an Fur 
Company, near the junction of the Laramie 
Creek with the Platte River, which had quite a 
military appearance, with its lofty walls white- 
washed and picketed, and large bastions at the 
angles. A cluster of lodges belonging to the 
Sioux Indians was pitched under the walls. He 
was received vnth great hospitality by the gen- 
tleman in charge of the fort, Mr. Boudeau, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 1^3 

having letters of introduction to him from the 
company at St. Louis, and it is hardly necessary 
to say that he was hospitably received and most 
kindly treated. He found Carson with the 
party under his command camped on the bank 
near the fort, by whom they were most warmly 
welcomed, and in the enjoyment of a bountiful 
supper, which coffee and bread converted almost 
into a luxury, they forgot the toils and suffer- 
ings of the past ten days. 

The news brought by Mr. Preuss, who it will 
be remembered was with Carson's party, was 
as exciting as it was unpleasant. He had learned 
that the Sioux, who had been badly disposed, 
had now broken out into open hostilities, and 
his informant, a well known trapper, named 
Bridger, had been attacked by them, and had 
only defeated them after serious losses on both 
sides. United with the Cheyennes and Gros 
Ventre Indians, they were scouring the country 
in war parties, declaring war upon every living 
thing which should pass the Red Buttes ; their 
special hostility being, however, directed 
against the white men. In fact the country 
was swarming with hostile Indians, and it was 
but too evident that any party who should at- 
tempt to enter upon the forbidden grounds, must 



164 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

do SO at the certain hazard of their lives. Of 
course such intelligence created great emotion 
throughout the camp, and it formed the sole 
subject of conversation and discussion during 
the evenings around the camp fires. 

Speaking of this report, and the effect pro- 
duced upon his men, Fremont uses the following 
language : 

" Carson, one of the best and most experi- 
enced mountaineers, fully supported the opinion 
given by Bridger of the dangerous state of the 
country, and openly expressed his conviction 
that we could not escape mthout some sharp 
encounters with the Indians. In addition to 
this, he made his will ; and among the circum- 
stances which were constantly occurring to in- 
crease their alarm, this was the most unfortu- 
nate ; and I found that a number of my party 
had become so much intimidated that they 
had requested to be discharged at this place.'^ 

Carson's apprehensions were fully justified by 
the circumstances suiTounding them ; and while 
we might have omitted the above quotation, as 
tending to exhibit him in a false light, doubt- 
less unintentionally, we choose rather to say a 
few words which will rob the insinuation of its 
sting. 



^ *n >>^ .^^%. 



•^^ ;V>« LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 165 

While there was reason to expect an en- 
counter with Indians, in whom it was reported 
the spirit of revenge was cherished towards 
the whites, more than ever it had been before, 
and whom numbers and acquisition of firearms 
rendered really formidable foes, he felt that the 
party with whom he was now associated, were 
not the men upon whom he could rely with 
certainty in an engagement against such terrible 
odds. In the days of his earlier experiences, 
the old trappers with him were men who had 
as little fear as himself, and were also ex- 
perienced in such little affairs, for such they 
considered them. Now, except Maxwell, an old 
associate, and two or three others, the men of 
the party were half paralyzed with fear at 
the prospect which this report presented to 
them ; and it was the knowledge of their fear, 
which they made no attempt to conceal, which 
excited in his mind apprehensions for the worst, 
for he did not choose to guide others into danger 
recklessly, even if he had no care for him- 
self. 

Headlong rashness, which some might mis- 
take for courage, was not a trait of his character ; 
but the voice of a whole country accords to him 
cool bravery, presence of mind, and courage to 



166 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

meet whatever danger forethouglit could not 
guard against. 

Witli a party of men like those lie had led 
several times against the Blackfeet, nothing 
could have persuaded him to turn back from 
any enterprise which he had undertaken, from 
a fear of hostile Indians. Of course he could 
not state his reason for his apprehensions even 
to his employer, because it would reflect upon 
his ability to arrange for such an enterprise, 
or his courage to conduct it to a successful ter- 
mination, neither of which he could doubt ; and 
it is therefore with something of regret we read 
in an official report, emanating from one who 
owed more to Kit Carson, of the fame and 
reputation so justly earned, than to any other 
living man, the assertion that Carson, stimulated 
by fear, made his will. The best contradiction 
which can be afforded, is found in the fact that, 
notwithstanding his apprehensions^ he did ac- 
company the party, discharging with his usual 
zeal, ability, and fidelity, the duties which de- 
volved upon him ; and we have yet to learn 
that Kit Carson ever shrunk from any danger. 

His reputation has, however, outlived this 
covert insinuation, and we presume that no man 
on this continent would hesitate to award to 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 167 

Kit Carson the highest attributes of moral and 
physical courage. 

" During our stay here," says Fremont in con- 
tinuation, '• the men had been engaged in making 
numerous repairs, arranging pack-saddles, and 
otherwise preparing for the chances of a rough 
road, and mountain travel, all of which Carson 
had superintended, urging upon the men that 
their comfort and their safety required it. All 
things of this nature being ready, I gathered 
them around me in the evening, and told them 
that ^ I had determined to proceed the next day. 
They were all well armed. I had engaged the 
services of Mr. Bissonette as interpreter, and 
had taken, in the circumstances, every possible 
means to insure our safety. In the rumors we 
had heard, I believed there was much exaggera- 
tion, and then they were men accustomed to 
this kind of life, and to the country ; and that 
these were the dangers of everyday occurrence, 
and to be expected in the ordinary course of 
their service. They had heard of the unsettled 
condition of the country before leaving St. 
Louis, and therefore could not make it a reason 
for breaking their engagements. Still I was 
unwilling to take with me, on a service of 
some certain danger, men on whom I could not 



168 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

rely ; and as I had understood that there were 
among them some who were disposed to cow- 
ardice, and anxious to return, they had but to 
come forward at once, and state their desire, 
and they would be discharged mth the amount 
due to them for the time they had served." To 
their honor, be it said, there was but one among 
them who had the face to come forward and 
avail himself of the permission. I asked him 
some few questions, in order to expose him to 
the ridicule of the men, and let him go. The day 
after our departure, he engaged himself to one 
of the forts, and set oif with a party to the 
Upper Missoui'L 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. I69 



CHAPTER XIX. 

As our explorers advanced, one of the most 
prominent features of the country was the 
abundance of artemisia growing everywhere, 
on the hills and in the river bottoms, in twisted 
wiry clumps, filling the air with the odor of 
mingled camphor and spirits of turpentine, and 
impeding the progress of the wagons out of the 
beaten track. 

They met a straggling party of the Indians 
which had followed the trail of the emigrants, 
and learned from them that multitudes of 
grasshoppei^s had consumed the grass upon the 
road, so that they had found no game, and 
were obliged to kill even their horses, to ward 
off starvation. Of course danger from these 
Indians was no longer to be apprehended, 
though the prospect was a gloomy one, but 
new courage seemed to inspire the party when 
the necessity of endui^ance seemed at hand. 

The party now followed Caisson's advice, 
given at Fort Laramie, to disencumber them- 



170 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

selves of all unnecessary articles, and accord- 
ingly they left their wagons, concealing tliera 
among low shrubbery, after they had taken 
them to pieces, and made a cache of such other 
effects as they could leave, among the sand heaps 
of the river bank, and then set to work to mend 
and arrange the pack-saddles, and packs, the 
whole of which was superintended by Carson, 
and to him was now assigned the office of 
guide, as they had reached a section of the 
country, with a great part of which long resi- 
dence had made him familiar. Game was 
found in great abundance after they reached 
the river bottom, off the traveled road, both 
upon the Platte and after they crossed over the 
divide to the Sweet Water. 

Speaking of the gorge where the Platte 
River issues from the Black Hills, changing its 
character abruptly from a mountain stream to 
a river of the plain, Fremont says, " I Adsited 
this place with iny favorite mani^ Basil Lajeu- 
nesse ;" and this extraordinary expression, left 
unexplained, would lead the casual reader to 
believe or think that Carson had lost the con- 
fidence of the official leader of the party. 

It has seemed to us, in reading Fremont's 
narrative of this first expedition to the Eocky 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 171 

Mountains, that in view of some failures to 
achieve what was sought, and to avoid what 
was suffered, Carson's advice, given with a 
larger experience, and with less of impetuosity, 
than that of the young Huguenot's, would, if 
followed, have secured different results, both 
for the comfort of the party, and the benefit 
of science ; and while those of like tempera- 
ment were chosen for companions by Lieuten- 
ant Fremont, it detracts nothing from his rep- 
utation for scientific analysis and skill, or for 
high courage, but only gives to Carson the de- 
served meed of praise to say, his was the hand 
that steadied the helm, and kept the vessel on 
her way, at times when, without his judgment, 
sagacity, and experience, it must have been 
seriously damaged, if not destroyed ; and with 
this balance wheel, a part of his machinery, the 
variety of difficulties that might have defeated 
the scientific purpose of the expedition, or have 
made it the last Fremont would desire, or the 
Government care to have him undertake, were 
avoided; and no one inquired to know the 
cause. 

It often happens that the quiet, simpler offi- 
ces of life become imperative, and first duties, to 
one who feels that all the qualifications fitting 



172 LIFE OF KIT CAE30N. 

for more honorable place, are possessed by him, 
in much larger measure than by the occupant of 
the higher official position, — as men are wont to 
esteem it — and, as there is no explanation given, 
nor, by declaration, even the fact stated that 
this was true now in respect to Christopher 
Carson, we shall give no reason, f ui'ther than to 
say, that the care of finding suitable places for 
camping, of seeing that the party were all in, 
and the animals properly cared for, their sad- 
dles in order, and the fastenings secure ; of find- 
ing game, and watching to see that the food is 
properly expended, so that each supply shall 
last till it can be replenished ; of seeing that the 
general property of the party is properly guard- 
ed, and a variety of other matters, which per- 
tain to the success of an enterprise like this, and 
without which it must be a failure, could not 
all be borne by Fremont ; and while he had 
assigned to each his position in the labor of 
the camp, the place of general care-taker, which 
comes not by appointment, fell naturally to the 
lot of Carson ; and such supervision was cheer- 
fully performed though it brought no other re- 
ward than the satisfaction of knowing that the 
essential elements of success were not neglected. 
Shall we not then deem him worthy of all 



LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 173 

praise for being content to occupy sucli a posi- 
tion ? Employed to guide tte party, lie had 
hoped to share the confidence of its leader, but 
the latter had akeady other friends, jealous of 
his attentions ; he had another hunter, jealous 
of his own reputation in his profession, and of 
his knowledge of the country ; then there were 
two youths in the party, one of whom wished 
to be amused and both to be instructed ; and in 
becoming the general providence of the party, 
which is scarcely thought of, because it seems 
to come of itself, we find the reason why Fre- 
mont's first narrative shows Carson so little like 
the brave, bold hunter we have known him 
hitherto. We allude to two lads, one a son of 
the Hon. T. H. Benton, who accompanied him 
out during a portion of his first expedition, and 
for whom it is evident he made many sacrifices. 

Buffalo were numerous, and they saw many 
tracks of the grizzly bear among the cherry 
trees and currant bushes that lined the river 
banks, while antelope bounded fitfully before 
them over the plains. 

But the reader is already familiar with this 
condition of things in the country, because the 
hero of our story has been here before, and to 
apply the term explorer here to Fremont, and 



174 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

to call this an exploring expedition, seems 
farcical, only as we remember tliat there had 
not been yet any written scientific description 
of this region, so long familiar to the trappers, 
and to none more than Carson. 

They had now approached the road at what 
is called the South Pass. The ascent had been 
so gradual, that, with all the intimate knowl- 
edge possessed by Carson, who had made this 
country his home for seventeen years, they 
were obliged to watch very closely to find the 
place at which they reached the culminating 
point. This was between two low hills, rising 
on either hand fifty or sixty feet. 

Approaching it from the mouth of the 
Sweet Water, a sandy plain, one hundred and 
twenty miles long, conducts, by a gradual and 
regular ascent, to the summit, about seven 
thousand feet above the sea ; and the traveler, 
without being reminded of any change by toil- 
some ascents, suddenly finds himself on the 
waters which flow to the Pacific Ocean. By 
the route they had traveled, the distance from 
Fort Laramie was three hundred and twenty 
miles, or nine hundred and fifty from the mouth 
of the Kansas. 

They continued on till they came to a tribu- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. I75 

taiy of the Green Kiver, and then followed 
the stream up to a lake at its source in the 
mountains, and had here a view of extraordi- 
nary magnificence and grandeur, beyond what 
is seen in any part of the Alps, and here, beside 
the placid lake, they left the mules, intending 
to ascend the mountains on foot, and measure the 
altitude of the highest point. 

Fremont had wished to make a circuit of a 
few miles in the mountains, and visit the sources 
of the four great streams, the Colorado, the 
Columbia, the Missouri, and the Platte, but 
game was scarce, and his men were not accus- 
tomed to their entirely meat fare, and were dis- 
contented. 

With fifteen picked men, mounted on the 
best mules, was commenced the ascent of the 
mountains, and amid views of most romantic 
beauty, overlooking deep valleys with lakes 
nestled in them, surrounded by precipitous 
ridges, hundreds of feet high, they wound their 
way up to the summits of the ridges, to descend 
again, and plod along the valley of a little 
stream on the other side. 

For two days they continued upon their mules, 
through this magnificent region, when the peak 
appeared so near, it was decided to leave the 



176 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

mules beside a little lake, and proceed on foot ; 
and as the day was warm, some of the party left 
their coats. But at night they had reached the 
limit of the piney region, when they were ten 
thousand feet above the waters of the Gulf of 
Mexico, and still the peak rose far above them, 
so that they camped without suffering, in a little 
green ravine, bordered with plants in bloom, 
and the next morning continued the ascent. 
Carson had led this day, and succeeded in 
reaching the summit of a snowy peak, supposed 
to be the highest, but saw from it the one they 
had been seeking, towering eight hundred or a 
thousand feet above him. They now descended 
off the snow and sent back for mules, and food, 
and blankets, and by a blazing fire all slept 
soundly until morning. 

Carson had understood that they had now 
done with the mountains, and by directions had 
gone at daybreak to the camp, taking with him 
all but four or five men, who were to remain 
with Fremont, and take back the mules and in- 
struments. But after their departure, the pro- 
gram was changed, and now understanding 
the topography of the country better, the 
party left, continued with the mules as far as 
possible, and then on foot over chasms, leaping 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 177 

from point to point of crags, until they came, 
with extreme difficulty, in the intense cold and 
rarefied air, to the height of the crest, and 
Fremont stood alone upon the pinnacle, and 
able to tell the story of this victory of Science 
to the world. He had been sick the day before, 
and Carson could not urge the prosecution of 
the enterprise, to reach the highest point, when 
the leader of the expedition was too ill to climb 
the summit, and therefore had not objected to 
the arrangement of returning to the camp. 

But we have nothing more to say. The reader 
of the story, as Fremont tells it, wishes there 
were evidences of higher magnanimity, which 
are wanting. Carson finds no fault, seems to 
notice none. He performed faithfully the duty 
assigned to him, utters no complaint, but is con- 
tent in carrying out a subordinate's first obliga* 
tion, that of obeying orders. 

12 



178 LI^E OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER XX. 

Feemont succeeded, but not witliout mucli 
danger and suffering, in reaching the highest 
peak of the Rocky Mountains, and waved over 
it his country's flag, in triumph. The return 
trip to Fort Laramie was not marked by any 
incident of special note, and Carson's services 
being no longer required, he left his commander 
here, and set out for New Mexico. In 1843, he 
married a Spanish lady, and his time was occa- 
sionally employed by Messrs. Bent and St. Vrain, 
his old and tried friends. 

While thus engaged at Bent's Fort he learned 
that his old commander and friend had passed 
two days before, on another exploring expedi- 
tion, and being naturally anxious to see again 
one to whom he was so strongly attached, he 
started on his trail, and after following it for 
seventy miles, came up with him. The meeting 
was mutually pleasing, but resulted quite con- 
trary to Carson's anticipations, for, instead of 
merely meeting and parting, Fremont, anxious 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 179 

to regain the services of one whose experience, 
judgment, and courage had been so well tiied, 
persuaded him to join this second expedition 
and again we find him launched as guide and 
hunter. 

Carson was at once despatched to the fort 
with directions to procure a supply of mules, 
which the party much needed, and to meet him 
with the animals at St. Vrain's Fort. This was 
accomplished to Fremont's entire satisfaction. 
The object of this second exploration was to 
connect the survey of the previous year with 
those of Commander Wilkes on the Pacific coast, 
but Fremont's first destination was the Great 
Salt Lake, which has since become so famous in 
the annals of our country. 

Fremont's description of this journey, and 
of his passage across the lake in a frail India- 
rubber boat, which threatened at every moment 
destruction to the entire party, is so true to life, 
and. so highly interesting, we quote it entire. 
The party reached, on the 21st of August, the 
Bear River, which was the principal tributary 
of the lake, and from this point we quote Fre- 
mont's words : 

" We were now entering a region, which for 
us, possessed a stran2:e and extraordinary in- 



18Q LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

terest. We were upon tlie waters of the fa- 
mous lake which forms a salient point among 
the remarkable geographical features of the 
country, and around which the vague and su- 
perstitious accounts of the trappers had thrown 
a delightful obscurity, which we anticipated 
pleasure in dispelling, but which, in the mean- 
time, left a crowded field for the exercise of 
our imagination. 

" In our occasional conversations with the few 
old hunters who had visited the region, it had 
been a subject of frequent speculation ; and the 
wonders which they related were not the less 
agreeable because they were highly exaggerated 
and impossible. 

" Hitherto this lake had been seen only by 
trappers, who were wandering through the 
country in search of new beaver streams, car- 
ing very little for geography ; its islands had 
never been visited ; and none were to be found 
who had entirely made the circuit of its shores 
and no instrumental observations, or geograph- 
ical survey of any description, had ever been 
made anywhere in the neighboring region. It 
was generally supposed that it had no visible 
outlet ; but, among the trappers, including those 
in my own camp, were many who believed that 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 1^1 

somewhere on its surface was a teriible whirl- 
pool, through which its waters found their way 
to the ocean by some subterranean communica- 
tion. All these things had been made a fre- 
quent subject of discussion in our desultory 
conversations around the fires at night ; and 
my own mind had become tolerably well filled 
with their indefinite pictures, and insensibly 
colored with their romantic descriptions, which, 
in the pleasure of excitement, I was well dis- 
posed to believe, and half expected to realize. 

" In about six miles' travel from our encamp- 
ment, we reached one of the points in our jour- 
ney to which we had always looked forward 
with great interest — the famous Beer Springs, 
which, on account of the effervescing gas and 
acid taste had received their name from the 
voyageurs and trappers of the country, who, in 
the midst of their rude and hard lives, are fond 
of finding some fancied resemblance to the lux- 
uries they rarely have the good fortune to enjoy. 

" Although somewhat disappointed in the ex- 
pectations which various descriptions had led 
me to form of unusual beauty of situation and 
scenery, I found it altogether a place of very 
great interest ; and a traveler for the first time 
in a volcanic region remains in a constant ex- 



182 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

citement, and at every step is arrested by some- 
thing remarkable and new. There is a confu- 
sion of interesting objects gathered together in 
a small space. Around the place of encamp- 
ment the Beer Springs were numerous ; but, aa 
far as we could ascertain, were entirely confined 
to that locality in the bottom. In the bed of 
the river, in front, for a space of several hundred 
yards, they were very abundant ; the effervesc- 
ing gas rising up and agitating the water in 
countless bubbling columns. In the vicinity 
round about were numerous springs of an en- 
tirely different and equally marked mineral 
character. In a rather picturesque spot, about 
1,300 yards below our encampment and im- 
mediately on the river bank, is the most re- 
markable spring of the place. In an opening 
on the rock, a white column of scattered water 
is thrown up, in form like Sijet-d'eau^ to a vari- 
able height of about three feet, and, though it 
is maintained in a constant supply, its greatest 
height is attained only at regular interv^als, ac- 
cording to the action of the force below^ It is 
accompanied by a subterranean noise, which, 
together with the motion of the water, makes 
very much the impression of a steamboat in 
motion ; and, without knowing that it had been 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 183 

already previously so called, we gave to it the 
name of the Steamboat Spring. The rock 
through which it is forced is slightly raised in 
a convex manner, and gathered at the opening 
into an urn-mouthed form, and is evidently 
formed by continued deposition from the water, 
and colored bright red by oxide of iron. 

" It is a hot spring, and the water has a pun- 
gent, disagreeable metallic taste, leaving a burn- 
ing effect on the tongue. Within perhaps two 
yards of the jet-d'eau^ is a small hole of about 
an inch in diameter, through which, at regular 
intervals, escapes a blast of hot air with a light 
wreath of smoke, accompanied by a regular 
noise. 

" As they approached the lake, they passed 
over a country of bold and striking scenery and 
through several 'gates,' as they called certain 
narrow valleys. The ' standing rock ' is a huge 
column, occupying the center of one of these 
passes. It fell from a height of perhaps 3,000 
feet, and happened to remain in its present up- 
right position. 

" At last, on the 6th of September, the ob- 
ject for which their eyes had long been strain- 
ing was brought to view. 

"/Sl^^. 6. — This time we reached the butte 



184 LIi?'E OF KIT CARSON. 

without any difficulty; and, ascending to the 
summit, immediately at our feet beheld the ob- 
ject of our anxious search, the waters of the In- 
land Sea, stretching in still and solitary grand- 
eur far beyond the limit of our vision. It 
was one of the great points of the exploration ; 
and as we looked eagerly over the lake in 
the first emotions of excited pleasure I am 
doubtful if the followers of Balboa felt more 
enthusiasm when, from the heights of the 
Andes, they saw for the first time the great 
Western Ocean. It was certainly a magnificent 
object, and a noble terminus to this part of our 
expedition; and to travelers so long shut up 
among mountain ranges, a sudden view over 
the expanse of silent waters had in it something 
sublime. Several large islands raised their 
high rocky heads out of the waves ; but 
whether or not they were timbered was still 
left to our imagination, as the distance was too 
great to determine if the dark hues upon them 
were woodland or naked rock. During the 
day the clouds had been gathering black over 
the mountains to the westward, and while we 
were looking, a storm burst down with sudden 
fury upon the lake, and entirely hid the islands 
from our view. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 185 

" On the edge of tlie stream a favorable spot 
was selected in a grove, and, felling the timber, 
we made a strong corral, or horse-pen, for the 
animals, and a little fort for the people who 
were to remain. We were now probably in 
the country of the Utah Indians, though none 
reside upon the lake. The India-rubber boat 
was repaired with prepared cloth and gum, and 
filled with air, in readiness for the next day. 

" The provisions which Carson had brought 
with him being now exhausted, and our stock 
reduced to a small quantity of roots, I deter- 
mined to retain with me only a sufficient num- 
ber of men for the execution of our design; 
and accordingly seven were sent back to Fort 
Hall, under the guidance of Francois Lajeu- 
nesse, who, having been for many years a 
trapper in the country, was an experienced 
mountaineer. 

" We formed now but a small family. With 
Mr. Preuss and myself, Carson, Bernier, and 
Basil Lajeunesse had been selected for the 
boat expedition — the first ever attempted on 
this interior sea; and Badau, with Derosier, 
and Jacob (the colored man), were to be left 
in charge of the camp. We were favored with 
most delightful weather. To-night there was 



186 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

a brilliant sunset of golden orange and green, 
whicli left the western sky clear and beauti- 
fully pure ; but clouds in tlie east made me lose 
an occultation. The summer frogs were singing 
around us, and the evening ^vas very pleasant, 
with a temperature of 60° — a night of a more 
southern autumn. For our supper, we had 
yampah^ the most agreeably flavored of the 
roots, seasoned by a small fat duck, which had 
come in the way of Jacob's rifle. Around our 
fire to-night were many speculations on what 
to-morrow would bring forth ; and in our busy 
conjectures we fancied that we should find 
every one of the large islands a tangled wilder- 
ness of trees and shrubbery, teeming with game 
of every description that the neighboring region 
afforded, and which the foot of a white man or 
Indian had never violated. Frequently, during 
the day, clouds had rested on the summits of 
their lofty mountains, and we believed that we 
should find clear streams and springs of fresh 
water ; and we indulged in anticipations of the 
luxurious repasts with which we were to in- 
demnify ourselves for past privations. Neither, 
in our discussions, were the whirlpool and other 
mysterious dangers forgotten, which Indian and 
lixmters' stories attributed to this unexplored 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 187 

lake. The men liad discovered that, instead of 
being strongly sewed (like that of the preceding 
year, which had so triumphantly rode the 
canons of the Upper Great Platte), our present 
boat was only pasted together in a very insecure 
manner, the maker having been allowed so little 
time in the construction that he was obliged to 
crowd the labor of two months into several 
days. The insecurity of the boat was sensibly 
felt by us ; and mingled with the enthusiasm 
and excitement that we all felt at the prospect 
of an undertaking which had never before been 
accomplished, was a certain impression of dan- 
ger, sufficient to give a serious character to our 
conversation. The momentary view which had 
been had of the lake the day before, its great 
extent, and rugged islands, dimly seen amidst 
the dark waters in the obscurity of the sudden 
storm, were well calculated to heighten the idea 
of undefined danger with which the lake was 
generally associated. 

^^ Sept. 8. — A calm, clear day, with a sun- 
rise temperature of 41°. In view of our pres- 
ent enterprise, a part of the equipment of the 
boat had been made to consist of three air- 
tight bags, about three feet long, and capable 
each of containing five gallons. These had been 



188 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

filled with water the night before, and were 
now placed in the boat, mth our blankets and 
instruments, consisting of a sextant, telescope, 
spy-glass, thermometer, and barometer. 

" In the course of the morning we discovered 
that two of the cylinders leaked so much as to 
require one man constantly at the bellows, to 
keep them sufficiently full of air to support the 
boat. Although we had made a very early 
start, we loitered so much on the way — stopping 
every now and then, and floating silently along, 
to get a shot at a goose or a duck — that it was 
late in the day when we reached the outlet. 
The river here divided into several branches, 
filled with flu vials, and so very shallow that it 
was with difficulty we could get the boat along, 
being obliged to get out and wade. We en- 
camped on a low point among rushes and young 
willows, where there was a quantity of drift- 
wood, which served for our fires. The evening 
was mild and clear ; we made a pleasant bed of 
the young ^villows ; and geese and ducks enough 
had been killed for an abundant supper at 
night, and for breakfast next morning. The 
stillness of the night was enlivened by millions 
of water-fowl. 

" Sept, 9. — The day was clear and calm ; 



LIFE OF KIT CAESON. 189 

the thermometer at sunrise at 49°. As is usual 
with the trappers on the eve of any enterprise, 
our people had made dreams, and theirs hap- 
pened to be a bad one — one which always pre- 
ceded evil — and consequently they looked very 
gloomy this morning ; but we hurried through 
our breakfast, in order to make an early start, 
and have all the day before us for our adven- 
ture. The channel in a short distance became 
so shallow that our navigation was at an end, 
being merely a sheet of soft mud, with a few 
inches of water, and sometimes none at all, 
forming the low-water shore of the lake. All 
this place was absolutely covered with flocks of 
screaming plover. We took off our clothes, and, 
getting overboard, commenced dragging the 
boat — making, by this operation, a very curi- 
ous trail, and a very disagreeable smell in 
stirring up the mud, as we sank above the 
knee at every step. The water here was still 
fresh, with only an insipid and disagreeable 
taste, probably derived from the bed of fetid 
mud. After proceeding in this way about a 
a mile, we came to a small black ridge on the 
bottom, beyond which the water became sud- 
denly salt, beginning gradually to deepen, and 
the bottom was sandy and fii-m. It was a re^ 



190 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

markable division, separating the fresh water 
of the rivers from the briny v^ater of the lake, 
which was entirely saturated with common salt. 
Pushing our little vessel across the narrow 
boundary, we sprang on board, and at length 
were afloat on the waters of the unkno^^oi 
sea. 

" We did not steer for the mountainous 
islands, but directed our course towards a 
lower one, which it had been decided we should 
first visit, the summit of which was fonned 
like the crater at the upper end of Bear River 
valley. So long as we could touch the bottom 
with our paddles, we were very gay ; but grad- 
ually, as the water deepened, we became more 
still in our frail batteau of gum cloth distended 
with air, and with pasted seams. Although 
the day was very calm, there was a considei*- 
able swell on the lake ; and there were white 
patches of foam on the surface, which were 
slowly moving to the southward, indicating the 
set of a current in that direction, and recalling 
the recollection of the whirlpool stories. The 
water continued to deepen as we advanced ; 
the lake becoming almost transparently clear, 
of an extremely beautiful bright green color ; 
and the spray, which was thrown into the boat 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 191 

and over our clothes, was directly converted 
into a crust of common salt, which covered 
also our hands and anns. ' Captain,' said Car- 
son, who for some time had been looking sus- 
piciously at some whitening appearances out- 
side the nearest islands, ' what are those yon- 
der ?— won't you just take a look with the 
glass?' We ceased paddling for a moment, 
and found them to be the caps of the waves 
that were beginning to break under the force 
of a strong breeze that was coming up the 
lake. The form of the boat seemed to be an 
admirable one, and it rode on the waves like a 
water bird ; but at the same time, it was ex- 
tremelyslow in its progress. When we were 
a little more than half way across the reach, 
two of the divisions between the cylinders 
gave way, and it required the constant use of 
the bellows to keep in a sufficient quantity of 
air. For a long time we scarcely seemed to 
approach our island, but gradually we worked 
across the rougher sea of the open channel, into 
the smoother water under the lee of the isl- 
and, and began to discover that what we took 
for a long row of pelicans, ranged on the beach, 
were only low cliti's whitened with salt by the 
spray of the waves ; and about noon we reached 



192 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

the shore, the transparency of the water ena- 
bling us to see the bottom at a considerable 
depth. 

"The cliffs and masses of rock along the 
shore were whitened by an incrustation of salt 
where the waves dashed up against them ; and 
the evaporating water, which had been left in 
holes and hollows on the surface of the rocks, 
was covered with a crust of salt about one- 
eighth of an inch in thickness. 

" Carrying with us the barometer and other 
instruments, in the afternoon we ascended to 
the highest point of the island — a bare, rocky 
peak, 800 feet above the lake. Standing on the 
summit, we enjoyed an extended view of the 
lake, inclosed in a basin of rugged mountains, 
which sometimes left marshy flats and extensive 
bottoms between them and the shore and in 
other places came directly down into the water 
with bold and precipitous bluffs. 

"As we looked over the vast expanse of 
water spread out beneath us, and strained our 
eyes along the silent shores over which hung 
so much doubt and uncertainty, and which 
were so full of interest to us, I could hardly 
repress the almost irresistible desire to continue 
our exploration ; but the lengthening snow on 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 193 

the mountains was a plain indication of the ad- 
vancing season, and our frail linen boat appeared 
so insecure that I was unwilling to trust our 
lives to the uncertainties of the lake. I there- 
fore unwillingty resolved to terminate oiu* sur- 
vey here, and remain satisfied for the present 
with what we had been able to add to the un- 
known geography of the region. We felt pleas- 
ure also in remembering that we were the first 
who, in the traditionary annals of the country, 
had visited the islands, and broken, with the 
cheerful sound of human voices, the long soli- 
tude of the place. 

" I accidentally left on the summit the brass 
cover to the object end of my spy-glass ; and 
as it will probably remain there undisturbed 
by Indians, it will furnish matter of speculation 
to some future traveler. In our excursions 
about the island, we did not meet with any kind 
of animal ; a magpie, and another larger bird, 
probably attracted by the smoke of our fire, 
paid us a visit from the shore, and were the 
only living things seen during our stay. The 
rock constituting the cliifs along the shore 
where we were encamped, is a talcous rock, or 
steatite, with brown spar. 

" At sunset, the temperatui'e was 70°. We 
13 



194 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

had arrived just in time to obtain a meridian 
altitude of the sun, and other observations were 
obtained this evening, which place our camp in 
latitude 41^ 10' 42'', andlongtitude 112° 21' 05'' 
from Greenwich. From a discussion of the 
barometrical observations made during our stay 
on the shores of the lake, we have adopted 4,200 
feet for its elevation above the Gulf of Mexico. 
In the first disappointment we felt from the dis- 
sipation of our dream of the fertile islands, I 
called this Disappointment Island. 

"Out of the driftwood we made ourselves 
pleasant little lodges, open to the water, and, 
after having kindled lai^ge fires to excite the 
wonder of any straggling savage on the lake 
shores, lay down, for the first time in a long 
journey, in perfect security; no one thinking 
about his arms. The evening was extremely 
bright and pleasant ; but the wind rose duiing 
the night, and the waves began to break heavily 
on the shore, making our island tremble. I 
had not expected in our inland journey to hear 
the roar of an ocean surf ; and the strangeness 
of our situation, and the excitement we felt in 
the associated interests of the place, made this 
one of the most interesting nights I remember 
during our long expedition. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 195 

" In the morning, the surf was breaking heav- 
ily on the shore, and we were up early. The 
lake was dark and agitated, and we hurried 
through our scanty breakfast, and embarked — 
having first filled one of the buckets with water 
from which it was intended to make salt. The 
sun had risen by the time we Avere ready to 
start ; and it was blowing a strong gale of wind, 
almost directly off the shore, and raising a con- 
siderable sea, in which our boat strained very 
much. It roughened as we got away from the 
island, and it required all the eif orts of the men 
to make any head against the wind of the sea ; 
the gale rising with the sun ; and there was 
danger of being blown into one of the open 
reaches beyond the island. At the distance of 
half a mile from the beach, the depth of 
water was sixteen feet, with a clay bottom ; but, 
as the working of the boat was veiy severe labor, 
and during the operation of sounding, it was 
necessary to cease paddling, during which, the 
boat lost considerable way, I was unwilling to 
discourage the men, and reluctantly gave up my 
intention of ascertaining the depth and character 
of the bed. There was a general shout in the 
boat when we found ourselves in one fathom, 
and we soon after landed on a low point of mud, 



196 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

where we unloaded the boat, and carried the 
baggage to firmer ground." 

Koughly evaporated over the fire, the five 
gallons of water from this lake yielded fourteen 
pints of very fine-grained and very white salt, 
of which the whole lake may be regarded as a 
saturated solution. 

On the 12th they resumed their journey, re- 
turning by the same route, and at night had a 
supper of sea gulls, which Carson killed near 
the lake. 

The next day they continued up the river, 
hunger making them very quiet and peaceable, 
and there was rarely an oath to be heard in the 
camp — not even a solitary enfant de garce. It 
was time for the men with an expected supply 
of provisions from Fitzpatrick to be in the 
neighborhood ; and the gun was fired at evening, 
to give notice of their locality, but met with 
no response. 

They killed to-day a fat young horse, pur- 
chased from the Indians, and were very soon 
restored to gaiety and good humor. Fremont 
and Mr. Preuss, not having yet overcome the 
prejudices of civilization, did not partake, pre- 
ferring to turn in supperless. 

The large number of emigrants constantly 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 197 

encamping here, had driven the game into the 
mountains, so that not an elk or antelope was 
seen upon the route ; but an antelope was pur- 
chased from an Indian, for a little powder and 
some ball, and they encamped early to enjoy an 
abundant supper ; which, while not yet pre- 
pared, was interrupted by the arrival of a trap- 
per, who startled and rejoiced all by announc- 
ing the glad news, that Mr. Fitzpatrick was in 
camp a little way from them, with a plentiful 
supply of provisions, flour, rice, dried meat, and 
even butter. 



198 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 



CHAPTER XXL 

The difficulty, in view of tlie approaching 
winter season, of supporting a large party, de- 
termined Fremont to send back a number of 
the men who had become satisfied that they 
were not fitted for the laborious service and 
frequent privation to which they were necessa- 
rily exposed, and which there was reason to 
believe would become more severe in the 
further extension of the voyage. They were 
accordingly called together, and after being 
fully informed as to the nature of the duties 
imposed upon them, and the hardships they 
would have to undergo, eleven of the party 
consented to abandon Fremont, and return ; but 
Carson was not one of these. 

Taking leave of the homeward party, they 
resumed their journey down the valley, the 
weather being very cold, and the rain coming 
in hard gusts, which the wind blew directly in 
their faces. They forded the Portneuf in a 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. I99 

storm of rain, the water in the river being fre- 
quently up to the axles. 

Fremont in his official report thus enumerates 
some of the difficulties and sufferings the party 
had to encounter : 

" Septembe?^ 27. — It was now no longer pos- 
sible, as in our previous journey, to travel reg- 
ularly every day, and find at any moment a 
convenient place for repose at noon, or a camp 
at night ; but the halting places were now 
generally fixed along the road, by the nature 
of the country, at places where, with water, 
there was a little scanty grass. Since leaving 
the American falls, the road had frequently 
been very bad ; and many short, steep ascents 
exhausting the strength of oar worn-out ani- 
mals, requiring always at such places the assist- 
ance of the men to get up each cart, one by 
one ; and our progress with twelve or fourteen 
wheeled carriages, though light and made for 
the purpose, in such a rocky country, was ex- 
tremely slow. 

" Carson had met here three or four buffalo 
bulls, two of which were killed. They were 
among the pioneers which had made the exper- 
iment of colonizing in the valley of the Co- 
lumbia. 



200 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

" Opposite to the encampment, a subteiTanean 
river bursts out directly from the face of the 
escarpment, and falls in white foam to the river 
below. The main river is enclosed with mural 
precipices, which f oim its characteristic feature, 
along a great portion of its course. A melan- 
choly and strange-looking country — one of 
fracture, and violence, and fire. 

" We had brought with us when we sepa- 
rated from the camp a large gaunt ox, in ap- 
pearance very poor ; but, being killed to-night, 
to the great joy of the people, he was found to 
be remarkably fat. As usual at such occur- 
rences, the evening was devoted to gaiety and 
feasting ; abundant fare now made an epoch 
among us ; and in this laborious life, in such a 
country as this, our men had but little else to 
enjoy." 

On arriving at the ford where the road crosses 
to the right bank of Snake River, an Indian 
was hired to conduct them through the ford, 
which proved impracticable ; the water sweep- 
ing away the howitzer and nearly drowning the 
mules. Fortunately they had a resource in a 
boat, which was filled vdth aii^ and launched ; 
and at seven o'clock were safely encamped on 
the opposite bank, the animals swimming across, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 201 

and the carriage, howitzer, and baggage of the 
camp being carried over in the boat. 

It was while at Fort Boise where Fremont 
first met Mons. Payette, an employee of the Hud- 
son Bay Co., that he came across the" Fish- 
eating Indians," a class lower if possible in the 
scale of humanity than the " Diggers." He says : 

" Many little accounts and scattered histo- 
ries, together with an acquaintance which I 
gradually acquired of their modes of life, had 
left the aboriginal inhabitants of this vast 
region pictured in my mind as a race of people 
whose great and constant occupation was the 
means of procuring a subsistence. 

" While the summer weather and the salmon 
lasted, they lived contentedly and happily, 
scattered along the different streams where the 
fish were to be found ; and as soon as the win- 
ter snows began to fall, little smokes would be 
seen rising among the mountains, where they 
would be found in miserable groups, starving 
out the winter ; and sometimes, according to the 
general belief, reduced to the horror of cannibal- 
ism — the strong, of coui^se, preying on the weak. 
Certain it is, they are driven to an extremity for 
food, and eat every insect, and every creeping 
thing, however loathsome and repulsi ve. Snails, 



202 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

lizards, ants — all are devoured mth the read- 
iness and greediness of mere animals." 

The remainder of the overland journey, until 
they reached Nez Perce, one of the trading 
establishments of the Hudson Bay Company, 
was not marked by any incident bringing Car- 
son into special notice. 

Having now completed the connection of his 
explorations with those of Commander Wilkes 
and which was the limit of his instructions, 
Fremont commenced preparations for his re 
turn, Carson being left at the Dalles with direc 
tions to occupy the people in making pack 
saddles, and refitting the equipage ; while 
Fremont continued his journey to the Mission, a 
few miles down the Columbia River, where he 
passed a few days in comparative luxury. 

The few days of rest, added to an abundance 
of wholesome food, had so far recruited the 
party, that they were soon prepared to encoun- 
ter and conquer the difficulties of this overland 
journey in mid-winter. Three principal objects 
were indicated by Fremont for exploration and 
research, and which, despite the obstacles which 
the season must so surely interpose, he had de- 
termined to visit. 

The first of these points was the Tlamath 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 203 

Lake, on the table-land between the head of 
Fall Kiver, which comes to the Columbia, and 
the Sacramento, which goes to the bay of San 
Francisco ; and from which lake a river of the 
same name makes its way westwardly direct to 
the ocean. 

From this lake their course was intended to 
be about southeast, to a reported lake called 
Mary's, at some days' journey in the Great 
Basin ; and thence, still on southeast, to the 
reputed Buena/oentura Eiver, which has had a 
place in so many maps, and countenanced the 
belief of the existence of a great river flowing 
from the Rocky Mountains to the Bay of San 
Francisco. From the Buenaventura, the next 
point was intended to be in that section of the 
Rocky Mountains which includes the heads of 
Arkansas River, and of the opposite waters of 
the Califomian Gulf ; and thence down the 
Arkansas to Bent's Fort, and home. This was 
the projected line of return — a great part of it 
absolutely new to geographical, botanical, and 
geological science — and the subject of reports 
in relation to lakes, rivers, deserts, and savages, 
hardly above the condition of mere wild ani- 
mals, which inflamed desire to know what this 
terra incognita really contained. 



204 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

It was a serious enterprise at the commence- 
ment of winter to undertake the traverse of 
such a region, and with a party consisting only 
of twenty-five persons, and they of many nations 
— American, French, German, Canadian, Indian, 
and colored — and most of them young, several 
being under twenty-one years of age. All 
knew that a strange country was to be ex- 
plored, and dangers and hardships to be en- 
countered ; but no one blenched at the pros- 
pect. On the contrary, courage and confidence 
animated the whole party. Cheerfulness, read- 
iness, subordination, prompt obedience, charac- 
terized all ; nor did any extremity of peril and 
privation, to which they were afterwards 
exposed, ever belie, or derogate from, the fine 
spirit of this brave and generous commence- 
ment. 

For the support of the party, he had pro- 
vided at Vancouver a supply of provisions for 
not less than three months, consisting princi- 
pally of flour, peas, and tallow — the latter being 
used in cooking ; and, in addition to this, they 
had purchased at the mission some California 
cattle, which were to be driven on the hoof. 
They had one hundred and four mules and 
horses — ^part of the latter procured from the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 205 

Indians about the mission ; and for the susten- 
ance of which, their reliance was upon the grass 
which might be found, and the soft porous 
wood, whi3h was to be substituted when there 
was no grass. 

Mr. Fitzpatrick, with Mr. Talbot and the 
remainder of the party, arrived on the 21st; and 
the camp was now closely engaged in the labor 
of preparation. Mr. Perkins succeeded in ob- 
taining as a guide, to the Tlamath Lake, two 
Indians — one of whom had been there, and bore 
the marks of several wounds he had received 
from some of the Indians in the neighborhood. 

Tlamath Lake, however, on examination, 
proved to be simply a shallow basin, which for 
a short period of the time of melting snows, 
is covered with water from the neighboring 
mountains ; but this probably soon runs off, 
and leaves for the remainder of the year a green 
savannah, through the midst of which, the river 
Tlamath, which flows to the ocean, winds its 
way to the outlet on the southwestern side. 

After leaving Tlamath Lake the party headed 
for Mary's Lake, which, however, after incred- 
ible sufferings and hardships, they failed to dis- 
cover, but they found one which was appropri- 
ately christened " Pyramid Lake," and here the 



206 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

record of toils, dangers and sufferings, undergone 
by the whole party, can only be told in the 
language of him, who cheerfully toiled and 
suffered with those under his command, and it 
is not too much to say, that with the exception 
of the " Strain expedition," across the Isthmus 
of Darien, no party of men have ever lived to 
narrate such sad experiences. We therefore let 
Fremont, in his own modest way, tell the tale of 
his own and his companions' sufferings. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 207 



CHAPTER XXII. 

« Jcmuary 3. — A fog, so dense tliat we could 
not see a hundred yards, covered tlie country, 
and the men that were sent out after the horses 
were bewildered and lost ; and we were conse- 
quently detained at camp until late in the day. 
Our situation had now become a serious one. 
We had reached and run over the position 
where, according to the best maps in my pos- 
session, we should have found Mary's Lake or 
river. We were evidently on the verge of the 
desert which had been reported to us ; and the 
appearance of the country was so forbidding, 
that I was afraid to enter it, and determined 
to bear away to the southward, keeping close 
along the mountains, in the full expectation of 
reaching the Buenaventura River. This morn- 
ing I put every man in the camp on foot — my- 
self, of course, among the rest — and in this 
manner lightened by distribution the loads of 
the animals. 

^''Janua/ry 4. — ^The fog to-day was still more 



208 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

dense, and the people again were bewildered 
We traveled a few miles around the westerL 
point of the ridge, and encamped where there 
were a few tufts of grass, but no water. Our 
animals now were in a very alarming state, and 
there was increasing anxiety in the camp. 

" January 5. — Same dense fog continued, and 
one of the mules died in camp this morning. 
We moved to a place where there was a little 
better grass, about two miles distant. Taplin, 
one of our best men, who had gone out on a 
scouting excursion, ascended a mountain near 
by, and to his great surprise emerged into a 
region of bright sunshine, in which the upper 
parts of the mountain were glowing, while be- 
low all was obscured in the darkest fog. 

^^ January^. — The fog continued the same, 
and with Mr. Preuss and Carson, I ascended the 
mountain, to sketch the leading features of the 
country, as some indication of our future route, 
while Mr. Fitzpatrick explored the country be- 
low. In a very short distance we had ascended 
above the mist, but the view obtained was not 
very gratifying. The fog had partially cleared 
off from below when we reached the summit ; 
and in the southwest comer of a basin communi- 
cating with that in which we had encamped, 



..iff.^'j^^ '^^^ LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 209 

we saw a lofty column of smoke, 16 miles dis- 
tant, indicating the presence of hot springs. 
There, also, appeared to be the outlet of those 
draining channels of the country ; and, as such 
places afforded always more or less grass, I de- 
termined to steer in that direction. The ridge 
we had ascended appeared to be composed of 
fragments of white granite. We saw here 
traces of sheep and antelope. 

" Entering the neighboring valley, and cross- 
ing the bed of another lake, after a hard day's 
travel over ground of yielding mud and sand, 
we reached the springs, where we found an 
abundance of grass, which, though only tolera- 
bly good, made this place, with reference to the 
past, a refreshing aud agreeable spot. 

" This is the moi^t extraordinary locality of 
hot springs we had met during the journey. 
The basin of the largest one has a circumference 
of several hundred feet ; but there is at one ex- 
tremity a circular space of about fifteen feet in 
diameter, entirely occupied by the boiling water. « 
It boils up at irregular intervals, and with much 
noise. The water is clear, and the spring deep ; 
a pole about sixteen feet long was easily im- 
mersed in the center, but we had no means of 
forming a good idea of the depth. 
14 



210 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

" Taking with me Godey and Carson, I made 
to-day a thorough exploration of the neighbor- 
ing valleys, and found in a ravine in the border- 
ing mountains a good camping place, where was 
water in springs, and a sufficient (][uantity of 
grass for a night. Overshadowing the springs 
were some trees of the sweet cotton-wood, which^ 
/ after a long interval of absence, we saw again ^ 
' with pleasure, regarding them as harbingers of 
a better country. To us, they were eloquent-of 
\^ green prairies and buffalo. We found here a 
broad and plainly marked trail, on which there 
were tracks of horses, and we appeared to have 
regained one of the thoroughfares which pass 
by the watering places of the country. On the 
western mountains of the valley, with which this 
of the boiling spring communicates, we remarked 
scattered cedars — probably an indication that 
we were on the borders of the timbered region 
extending to the Pacific. We reached the 
camp at sunset, after a day's ride of about forty 
miles. 

"' January 10. — We continued our reconnois- 
sance ahead, pursuing a south direction in the 
basin along the ridge ; the camp following 
slowly after. On a large trail there is never 
any doubt of finding suitable places for encamp 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 211 

ments. We reached tlie end of the basin, where 
we found, in a hollow of the mountain which 
enclosed it, an abundance of good bunch grass. 
Leaving a signal for the party to encamp, we 
continued our way up the hollow, intending to 
see what lay beyond the mountain. The hol- 
low was several miles long, forming a good 
pass, the snow deepening to about a foot as we 
neared the summit. Beyond, a defile between 
the mountains descended rapidly about two 
thousand feet ; and, filling up all the lower space, 
was a sheet of green water, some twenty miles 
broad. It broke upon our eyes like the ocean. 
The neighboring peaks rose high above us, and 
we ascended one of them to obtain a better 
view. The waves were curling in the breeze, 
and their dark green color showed it to be a 
body of deep Vv^ater. For a long time we sat 
enjoying the view, for we had become fatigued 
with mountaius, and the free expanse of moving 
waves was very grateful. It was set like a gem 
in the mountains, which, from our position, 
seemed to enclose it almost entirely. At the 
western end it communicated with the line of 
basins we had left a few days since ; and on the 
opposite side it swept a ridge of snowy moun- 
tains, the foot of the great Sierra. Its position 



212 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 

at first inclined us to believe it Mary's Lake, 
but the rugged mountains were so entirely dis* 
cordant witli descriptions of its low rushy 
shores and open country, that we concluded it 
some unknown body of water ; which it after- 
wards proved to be. 

" We saw before us, in descending from the 
pass, a great continuous range, along which 
stretched the valley of the river; the lower 
parts steep, and dark with pines, while above 
it was hidden in clouds of snow. This, we felt 
instantly satisfied was the central ridge of the 
Sierra Nevada, the great California mountain, 
which only now intervened between us and the 
waters of the bay. We had made a forced 
march of 26 miles, and three mules had given 
out on the road. Up to this point, with the ex- 
ception of two stolen by Indians, we had lost 
none of the horses which had been brought 
from the Columbia Kiver, and a number of these 
were still strong and in tolerably good order. 
We had now sixty-seven animals in the band. 

" We had scarcely lighted our fires, when the 
camp was crowded with nearly naked Indians. 
There were two who appeared particularly in 
telligent — one, a somewhat old man, H^ told 
me that, before the snows fell, it was six sleeps 






LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 213 

to the place where the whites lived, but that 
now it was impossible to cross the mountain on 
account of the deep snow ; and showing us, as 
the others had done, that it was over our 
heads, he urged us strongly to follow the 
course of the river, which he said would con- 
duct us to a lake in which there were many 
large iish. There, he said, were many people ; 
there was no snow on the ground ; and we 
might remain there until spring. From their 
descriptions, we were enabled to judge that we 
had encamped on the upper water of the Sal- 
mon-trout River. It is hardly necessary to 
say that our communication was only by signs, 
as we understood nothing of their language ; 
but they spoke, notwithstanding, rapidly and 
vehemently, explaining what they considered 
the folly of our intentions, and urging us to go 
down to the lake. Tah-ve^ a word signifying 
snow, we very soon learned to know, from its 
frequent repetition. I told him that the men 
and the horses were strong, and that we would^ 
break a road through the snow ; and spreading \ 
before him our bales of scarlet cloth, and trink-/ 
ets, showed him what we would give for a 
guide. It was necessary to obtain one, if pos- 
sible ; for I had determined here to attempt 



214 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

the passage of the mountain. Pulling a bunch 
of grass from the ground, after a short discus- 
sion among themselves, the old man made us 
comprehend, that if we could break through 
the snow, at the end of three days we would 
come down upon grass, which he showed us 
would be about six inches high, and where the 
ground was entirely free. So far he said he 
had been in hunting for elk ; but beyond that 
(and he closed his eyes) he had seen nothing ; 
but there was one among them who had been 
to the whites, and, going OTit of the lodge, he 
returned with a young man of very intelligent 
appearance. Here, said he, is a young man who 
has seen the whites with his own eyes ; and he\ 
swore, first by the sky, and then by the ground, j 
that what he said was true. With a large pres- 
ent of goods, we prevailed upon this young 
man to be our guide, and he acquired among us 
the name Melo — a word signifying friend, 
which they used very frequently. He was thinly 
clad, and nearly barefoot ; his moccasins being 
about worn out. We gave him skins to make 
a new pair, and to enable him to perform his 
undertaking to us. The Indians remained in 
camp during the night, and we kept the guide 
and two others to sleep in the lodge with us— 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 215 

Carson lying across tlie door, and having made 
them comprehend the use of our fire-arms." 

Fremont here, after a consultation with some 
Indians who came into his camp, made up his 
mind to attempt the passage of the mountains 
at every hazard. He therefore, to quote his 
own words, called his men together, and " re- 
minded them of the beautiful valley of the 
Sacramento, with which they were familiar 
from the descriptions of Carson, who had been 
there some fifteen years ago, and who, in our 
late privations, had delighted us in speaking of 
its rich pastures and abundant game, and drew 
a vivid contrast between its summer climate, 
less than a hundred miles distant, and the fall- 
ing snow around us. I informed them (and 
long experience had given them confidence in 
my observations and good instruments) that 
almost directly west, and only about seventy 
miles distant, was the great farming establish- 
ment of Captain Sutter — a gentleman who had 
formerly lived in Missouri, and, emigrating to 
this country, had become the possessor of a 
principality. I assured them that, from the 
heights of the mountain before us, we should 
doubtless see the valley of the Sacramento 
River, and with one effort place ourselves agaiu 



216 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

in the midst of plenty. The people received this 
decision with the cheerful obedience Avhich had 
always characterized them ; and the day was 
immediately devoted to the preparations neces- 
sary to enable us to carry it into effect. Leg- 
gins, moccasins, clothing — all were put into the 
best state to resist the cold. Our guide was 
not neglected. Extremity of suffering might 
make him desert ; we therefore did the best we 
could for him. Leggins, moccasins, some arti- 
cles of clothing, and a large green blanket, in 
addition to the blue and scarlet cloth, were 
lavished upon him, and to his great and evident 
contentment. He arrayed himself in all his 
colors ; and clad in green, blue, and scarlet, he 
made a gay -looking Indian ; and, with his vari- 
ous presents, was probably richer and better 
clothed than any of his tribe had ever been before. 
"" I have already said that our provisions 
were very low ; we had neither tallow nor 
grease of any kind remaining, and the want of 
salt became one of our greatest privations. 
The poor dog which had been found in the 
Bear Kiver valley, and which had been a com- 
jpagnon de voyage ever since, had now become 
fat, and the mess to which it belonged re- 
quested permission to kill it. Leave was 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 217 

granted. Spread out on the snow, the meat 
looked very good ; and it made a strengthening 
meal for the greater part of the camp. 

" The people were unusually silent ; for every 
man knew that our enterprise was hazardous, 
and the issue doubtful. 

" The snow deepened rapidly, and it soon be- 
came necessary to break a road. For this serv- 
ice, a party of ten was formed, mounted on 
the strongest horses ; each man in succession 
opening the road on foot, or on horseback, until 
himself and his horse became fatigued, when he 
stepped aside ; and, the remaining number pass- 
ing ahead, he took his station in the rear. 

'^ The camp had been all the day occuj)ied in 
endeavoring to ascend the hill, but only the 
best horses had succeeded ; the animals, gener- 
ally, not having sufficient strength to bring 
themselves up without the packs ; and all the 
line of road between this and the springs was 
strewed with camp stores and equipage, and 
horses floundering in snow. I therefore imme- 
diately encamped on the ground with my own 
mess, which was in advance, and directed Mr. 
Fitzpatrick to encamp at the springs, and send 
all the animals, in charge of Tabeau, with a 
strong guard, back to the place where they had 



21S LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

been pastured tlie night before. Here wa8 a 
small spot of level ground, protected on one 
side by the mountain, and on the other shel- 
tared by a little ridge of rock. It was an open 
grove of pines, w^hich assimilated in size to the 
grandeur of the mountain, being frequently six 
feet in diameter. 

" To-night we had no shelter, but we made a 
large fire around the trunk of one of the huge 
pines ; and covering the snow with small 
boughs, on which we spread our blankets, soon 
made ourselves comfortable. The night w^s 
very bright and clear, though the thermometer 
was only at 10°. A strong wind which sprang 
upatsundovTQ, made it intensely cold; and this 
was one of the bitterest nights during the journey. 

"Two Indians joined our party here; and 
one of them, an old man, immediately began to 
harangue us, saying that ourselves and animals 
would perish in the snow; and that, if we 
would go back, he would show us another and 
a better way across the mountain. He spoke 
in a very loud voice, and there was a singular 
repetition of phrases and arrangement of words, 
which rendered his speech striking, and not 
unmusical. 

"We had now begun to understand some 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 219 

! words, and, with tlie aid of signs, easily com- 
prehended the old man's simple ideas. ^ Rock 
upon rock — rock upon rock — snow upon snow 
' — snow upon snow,' said he ; ' even if you get 
over the snow, you will not be able to get 
down from the mountains.' He made us the 
sign of precipices, and showed us how the feet 
of the horses would slip, and throw them off 
from the narrow trails which led along their 
sides. Our Chinook, who comprehended even 
more readily than ourselves, and believed our 
situation hopeless, covered his head with his 
blanket, and began to weep and lament. ' I 
wanted to see the whites,' said he ; 'I came 
away from my ovni people to see the whites, 
and I wouldn't care to die among them ; but 
here ' — and he looked around into the cold night 
and gloomy forest, and, drawing his blanket 
over his head, began again to lament. 

" Seated around the tree, the fire illumina- 
ting the rocks and the tall bolls of the pines 
round about, and the old Indian haranguing, 
we presented a group of very serious faces. 

'' Felruary 5. — The night had been too cold 
to sleep, and we were up very early. Our 
guide was standing by the fire with all his finery 
on ; and seeing him shiver in the cold, I threw 



220 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

on his shoulders one of my blankets. We 
missed him a few minutes afterwards, and 
never saw him again. He had deserted. His 
bad faith and treachery were in perfect keep- 
ing with the estimate of Indian character, which 
a long intercourse wth this people had gradu- 
ally forced upon my mind. 

" While a portion of the camp were occupied 
in bringing up the baggage to this point, the 
remainder were busied in making sledges and 
snow-shoes. I had determined to explore the 
mountain ahead, and the sledges were to be 
used in transporting the baggage. 

"Crossing the open basin, in a march of 
about ten miles we reached the top of one of 
the peaks, to the left of the pass indicated by 
our guide. Far below us, dimmed by the dis- 
tance, was a large, snowless valley, bounded on 
the western side, at the distance of about a 
hundred miles, by a low range of mountains, 
which Carson recognized with delight as the 
mountains bordering the coast. ' There,' said 
he, 'is the little mountain — it is fifteen years 
ago since I saw it; but I am just as sure as if I 
' had seen it yesterday.' Between us, then, and 
this low coast range, was the valley of the Sac- 
ramento; and no one who had not accompa- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 221 

nied us througli the incidents of our life for the 
last few months, could realize the delight with 
which at last we looked down upon it. At the 
distance of apparently thirty miles beyond us 
were distinguished spots of prairie ; and a dark 
line, which could be traced with the glass, was 
imagined to be the course of the river ; but we 
were evidently at a great height above the 
valley, and between us and the plains extended , 
miles of snowy fields and broken ridges of pine-y 
covered mountains. 

" It was late in the day when we turned to- 
wards the camp ; and it grew rapidly cold as it 
drew towards night. One of the men became 
fatigued, and his feet began to freeze, and build- 
ing a fire in the trunk of a dry old cedar, Mr. 
Fitzpatrick remained with him until his clothes 
could be dried, and he was in a condition to 
come on. After a day's march of twenty miles, 
we straggled into camp, one after another, at 
nightfall ; the greater number excessively 
fatigued, only two of the party having ever 
traveled on snow-shoes before. 

" All our energies were now directed to get- 
ting our animals across the snow ; and it was 
supposed that, after all the baggage had been 
drawn with the sleighs over the trail we had 



222 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

made, it would be sufficiently hard to bear out 
animals. 

" At several places, between this point and 
the ridge, we had discovered some grassy spots, 
where the mnd and sun had dispersed the snow 
from the sides of the hills, and these were to 
form resting places to support the animals for 
a night in their passage across. On our way 
across, we had set on fire several broken stumps 
and dried trees, to melt holes in the snow for 
the camp. Its general depth was five feet ; but 
we passed over places where it was twenty feet 
deep, as shown by the trees. 

" With one party drawing sleighs loaded with 
baggage, I advanced to-day about four miles 
along the trail, and encamped at the first grassy 
spot, where we expected to bring our horses. 
Mr. Fitzpatrick, wdth another party remained 
behind, to form an intermediate station between 
us and the animals. 

" Putting on our snow-shoes, we spent the 
afternoon in exploring a road ahead. The glare 
of the snow, combined Avith great fatigue, had 
rendered many of the people nearly blind ; but 
we were fortunate in having some black silk 
handkerchiefs, which, worn as veils, very much 
relieved the eye. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 223 

" In the evening I received a message from 
Mr. Fitzpatrick, acquainting me with the utter 
failure of his attempt to get our mules and 
horses over the snow — the half -hidden trail had 
proved entirely too slight to support them, and 
they had broken through, and were plunging 
about or lying half buried in snow. He was 
occupied in endeavoring to get them back to his 
camp ; and in the mean time sent to me for 
further instructions. I wrote to him to send 
the animals immediately back to their old pas- 
tures ; and, after having made mauls and shovels, 
turn in all the strength of his party to open and 
beat a road through the snow, strengthening it 
with branches and boughs of the pines. 

" Februm^y 12. — We made mauls, and worked 
hard at our end of the road all the day. The 
wind was high, but the sun bright, and the 
snow thawing. We worked down the face of 
the hill, to meet the people at the other end. 
Towards sundown it began to grow cold, and 
we shouldered our mauls, and trudged ba(jk to 
camp. 

" February 18. — We continued to labor on 
the road ; and in the course of the day had the 
satisfaction to see the people working down the 
face of the opposite hill, about three miles dis- 



224 LIFE OF KIT CARSOlSi. 

tant. During the morning we had the pleas- 
ure of a visit from Mn Fitzpatrick, with the 
information that all was going on well. A 
party of Indians had passed on snow-shoes, who 
said they were going to the western side of the 
mountain after fish. This was an indication 
that the salmon were coming up the streams ; 
and we could hardly restrain our impatience as 
we thought of them, and worked with increased 
vigor. 

" I was now perfectly satisfied that we had 
struck the stream on which Mr. Sutter lived, 
and turning about, made a hard push, and 
reached the camp at dark. Here we had the 
pleasure to find all the remaining animals, 57 in 
number, safely arrived at the grassy hill near 
the camp ; and here, also, we were agreeably 
surprised with the sight of an abundance of 
salt. Some of the horse guard had gone to a' 
neighboring hut for pine nuts, and discovered 
unexpectedly a large cake of very white fine- 
grained salt, which the Indians told them they 
had brought from the other side of the moun- 
tain ; they used it to eat with their pine nuts, 
and readily sold it for goods. 

" On the 19th, the people were occupied in 
making a road and bringing up the baggage ; 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 225 

and, on the afternoon of the next day, Febru- 
ary 20, 1844, we encamped with the animals 
and all the materiel of the camp, on the summit 
of the Pass in the dividing ridge, 1,000 miles 
by our traveled road from the Dalles of the 
Columbia. 

^^ February 21. — We now considered our- 
selves victorious over the mountain ; having 
only the descent before us, and the valley under 
our eyes, we felt strong hope that we should 
force our way down. But this was a case in 
which the descent was not facile. Still, deep 
fields of snow lay between, and there was a 
large intervening space of rough-looking moun- 
tains, through which we had yet to wind our 
way. Carson roused me this morning with an 
early fire, and we were all up long before day, 
in order to pass the snow fields before the sun 
should render the crust soft. We enjoyed this 
morning a scene at sunrise, which, even here, 
was unusually glorious and beautiful. Immedi- 
8^/tely above the eastern mountains was repeated 
m cloud-formed mass of purple ranges, bordered 
/ with bright yellow gold ; the peaks shot up into 
I a narrow line of crimson cloud, above which 
I the air was filled with a greenish orange ; and ^ 
\ over all was the singular beauty of the blue/ 
\ ^5 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

sky. Passing along a ridge which commanded 
the lake on our right, of which we began to 
discover an outlet through a chasm on the west, 
we passed over alternating open ground and hard- 
crusted snow-fields which supported the animals, 
and encamped on the ridge after a journey of 
six miles. The grass was better than we had 
yet seen, and we were encamped in a clump of 
trees, twenty or thirty feet high, resembling 
white pine. 



hLEJS^ OF EIT CAESON<» 227 



CHAPTER XXIIL 

" We had hard and doubtful labor yet before 
us, as the snow appeared to be heavier where 
the timber began further down, with few open 
spots. Ascending a height, we traced out the 
best line we could discover for the next day's 
march, and had at least the consolation to see 
that the mountain descended rapidly. The day 
had been one of April ; gusty, with a few occa- 
sional flakes of snow ; which, in the afternoon, 
enveloped the upper mountains in clouds. We 
watched them anxiously, as now we dreaded a 
snow storm. Shortly afterwards we heard the 
roll of thunder, and looking toward the valley, 
found it all enveloped in a thimder-storm. For 
us, as connected with the idea of summer, it had 
a singular charm ; and we watched its progress 
with excited feelings until nearly sunset, when 
the sky cleared off brightly, and we saw a shin- 
ing line of water directing its course towards 
another, a broader and larger sheet. We knew 
that these could be no other than the Sacra- 



228 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

mento and the bay of San Francisco ; but, after 
our long wandering in rugged mountains, where 
80 frequently we had met with disappointment, 
and where the crossing of every ridge displayed 
some unknown lake or river, we were yet al- 
most afraid to believe that we were at last to 
escape into the genial country of which we have 
heard so many glowing descriptions, and dreaded 
again to find some vast interior lake, whose 
bitter waters would bring us disappointments. 
On the southern shore of what appeared to be 
the bay, could be traced the gleaming line 
where entered another large stream ; and again 
the Buenaventura rose up in our mind. 

'' Carson had entered the valley along the 
southern side of the bay, but the country then 
was so entirely covered with water from snow 
and rain, that he had been able to form no 
correct impression of watercourses. 

"We had the satisfaction to know that at 
least there were people below. Fires were lit 
up in the valley just at night, appearing to be 
in answer to ours ; and these signs of life 
renewed, in some measure, the gaiety of the 
camp. They appeared so near, that we judged 
them to be among the timber of some of the 
neighboring ridges ; but, having them constantly 




Carson's moccasin glanced from the icy rock and precipitated him into the 
river.-Page 229. Kit Carson. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 229 

in view day after day, and night after night, 
we afterwards found them to be fires that had 
been kindled by the Indians among the tulares^ 
on the shore of the bay, eighty miles distant. 

" Axes and mauls were necessary to-day to 
make a road through the snow. Going ahead 
with Carson to reconnoiter the road, we reached 
in the afternoon the river which made the out- 
let of the lake. Carson sprang over, clear across 
a place where the stream was compressed among 
rocks, but the parfieclie sole of my moccasin \ 
glanced from the icy rock, and precipitated me 
into the river. It was some few seconds before 
I could recover myself in the current, and Car- 
son, thinking me hurt, jumped in after me, and 
we both had an icy bath. We tried to search 
a while for my gun, which had been lost in the 
fall, but the cold drove us out ; and making a 
large fire on the bank, after we had partially 
dried ourselves we went back to meet the camp. 
We afterwards found that the gun had been 
slung under the ice which lined the banks of 
the creek. 

" The sky was clear and pure, with a sharp 
wind from the northeast, and the thermometer 
2° below the freezing point. 

" We continued down the south face of the 



230 LI^E OF KIT CARSON. 

mountain ; our road leading over dry ground, 
we were able to avoid the snow almost entirely. 
In the course of the morning, we struck a foot- 
path, which we were generally able to keep ; 
and the ground was soft to our animals' feet, 
being sandy or covered with mold. Green 
grass began to make its appearance, and oc- 
casionally we passed a hill scatteringly covered 
with it. The character of the forest continued 
the same ; and, among the trees, the pine vdth 
sharp leaves and very large cones was abundant, 
some of them being noble trees. We measured 
one that had ten feet diameter, though the 
height was not more than one hundred and 
thirty feet. All along, the river was a roaring 
torrent, its fall very great ; and, descending with 
a rapidity to which we had long been strangers, 
to our great pleasure oak trees appeared on the 
ridge, and soon became very frequent ; on these 
I remarked unusually great quantities of mis- 
letoe. 

" The opposite mountain side was very steep 
and continuous — unbroken by ravines, and 
covered with pines and snow ; while on the side 
we were traveling, innumerable rivulets poured 
down from the ridge. Continuing on, we 
halted a moment at one of these rivulets, to ad 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 231 

mire some beautiful evergreen trees, resembling 
live oak, which shaded the little stream. They 
were forty to fifty feet high, and two in diam- 
eter, with a uniform tufted top ; and the sum- 
mer green of their beautiful foliage, vdth the 
singing birds, and the sweet summer wind which 
was whirling about the dry oak leaves, nearly 
intoxicated us with delight ; and we hurried on, 
filled with excitement, to escape entirely from 
the horrid region of inhospitable snow, to the 
perpetual spring of the Sacramento. 

" February 25. — Believing that the difiiculties 
of the road were passed, and leaving Mr. Fitz- 
patrick to follow slowly, as the condition of the 
animals required, I started ahead this morning 
with a party of eight, consisting (with myself) 

(of Mr. Preuss, and Mr. Talbot, Carson, Derosier, \ 
Tovnis, Proue, and Jacob. We took with us J 
some of the best animals, and my intention wasr^ 
to proceed as rapidly as possible to the house of 
Mr. Sutter, and return to meet the party with a 
supply of provisions and fresh animals. 

" Near nightfall we descended into the steep 
ravine of a handsome creek thirty feet wide, 
and I was engaged in getting the horses up 
the opposite hill, when I heard a shout froDi 
Carson, who had gone ahead a few hundred 



232 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

yards — ' Life yet/ said he, as he came up, ' life 
yet; I have found a hillside sprinkled with 
grass enough for the night.' We drove along 
our horses, and encamped at the place about 
dark, and there was just room enough to make 
a place for shelter on the edge of the stream. 
Three horses were lost to-day — Proveau ; a fine 
young horse from the Columbia belonging to 
Charles Towns ; and another Indian horse which 
carried our cooking utensils ; the two former 
gave out, and the latter strayed off into the 
woods as we reached the camp : and Derosier, 
knowing my attachment to Proveau, volunteered 
to go and bring him in. 

" Carson and I climbed one of the neai'est 
mountains ; the forest land still extended ahead, 
and the valley appeared as far as ever. The 
pack horse was found near the camp, but De- 
rosier did not get in. 

" We began to be uneasy at Derosier's absence, 
fearing he might have been bewildered in the 
woods. Charles Towns, who had not yet re- 
covered his mind, went to swim in the river, as 
if it was summer, and the stream placid, when it 
was a cold mountain torrent foaming among the 
rocks. We were happy to see Derosier appear 
in the evening. He came in, and sitting down 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 233 

by the fire, began to tell us where lie had been. 
He imagined he had been gone several days, and 
thought we were still at the camp where he had 
left us ; and we were pained to see that his 
mind was deranged. It appeared that he had 
been lost in the mountain, and hunger and 
fatigue, joined to weakness of body, and fear of 
perishing in the mountains had crazed him. The 
times were severe when stout men lost their 
minds from extremity of suffering, — when horses 
died — and when mules and hoi'ses, ready to die 
of starvation, were killed for food. Yet there 
was no murmuring or hesitation. In the mean 
time Mr. Preuss continued on down the river, 
and unaware that we had encamped so early in 
the day, was lost. When night arrived and he 
did not come in, we began to understand what 
had happened to him ; but it was too late to 
make any search. 

" March 3. — We followed Mr. Preuss's trail 
for a considerable distance along the river, un- 
til we reached a place where he had descended 
to the stream below and encamped. Here we 
shouted and fired guns, but received no answer ; 
and we concluded that he had pushed on down 
the stream. I determined to keep out from the 
river, along which it was nearly impracticable 



234: LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

to travel with animals, until it should form a 
valley. At every step tlie country improved in 
beauty ; the pines were rapidly disappearing, 
and oaks became the principal trees of the for- 
est. Among these, the prevailing tree was the 
evergreen oak (which, by way of distinction, we 
shall call the live oak); and with these, occurred 
frequently a new species of oak, bearing a long, 
slender acorn, from an inch to an inch and a 
half in length, which we now began to see 
formed the principal vegetable food of the in- 
habitants of this region. In a short distance 
we crossed a little rivulet, where were two old 
huts, and near by were heaps of acorn hulls. 
The ground round about Avas very rich, cov- 
ered with an exuberant sward of grass ; and 
we sat down for a while in the shade of the 
oaks, to let the animals feed. We repeated our 
shouts for Mr. Preuss ; and this time we were 
gratified with an answer. The voice grew rap- 
idly nearer, ascending from the river, but when 
we expected to see him emerge, it ceased en- 
tirely. We had called up some straggling In- 
dian — the first we had met, although for two 
days back we had seen tracks — who, mistaking 
us for his fellows, had been only undeceived 
by getting close up. It would have been pleas- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 235 

ant to witness his astonishment ; he would not 
have been more frightened had some of the old 
mountain spirits they are so much afraid of sud- 
denly appeared in his path. Ignorant of the 
character of these people, we had now addi. 
tional cause of uneasiness in regard to Mr. 
Preuss ; he had no arms with him, and we be- 
gan to think his chance doubtful. Occasion- 
ally we met deer, but had not the necessary 
time for hunting. At one of these orchard 
grounds, we encamped about noon to make an 
effort for Mr. Preuss. One man took his way 
along a spur leading into the river, in hope to 
cross his trail ; and another took our own back. 
Both were volunteers; and to the successful 
man was promised a pair of pistols — not as a 
reward, but as a token of gratitude for a ser- 
vice which would free us all from much anx- 
iety." 

It was not until the 6th, and after a continu- 
ation of the most incredible sufferings, already 
narrated, that the party reached Sutter's Fort, 
where, it is needless to say, they were warmly 
and cordially received by that gentleman, — and 
to close this stirring narrative, we will only add, 
as an evidence of the terrible sufferings to 
which they had been subjected, that out of 



236 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

sixty -seven horses and mules, with which the 
expedition was commenced, only thirty-three 
reached the valley of the Sacramento, and they 
had to be led. In quoting above from Fre- 
mont's narrative, a continuous record has not 
been kept, as we have used only such portions 
as contain the narrative of incidents directly 
connected with the expedition, and of whicl), 
though scarcely mentioned throughout, save in 
the most incidental manner, Carson might well 
say, and with pride, magna jpars fui. 

In the course of this narrative we have fre- 
quently used the word cdbche^ and a brief inter- 
pretation of its meaning, we are sure, will not be 
uninteresting to the uninitiated. 

A cache is a term common among traders 
and hunters, to designate a hiding place for 
provisions and effects. It is derived from the 
French word cacTier^ to conceal, and originated 
among the early colonists of Canada and Louis- 
iana ; but the secret depository which it desig- 
nates was in use among the aboriginals long be- 
fore the intrusion of the white men. It is, in 
fact, the only mode that migratory hordes have 
of preserving their valuables from robbery, dur- 
ing their long absences from their villages or 
accustomed haunts on hunting expeditions, or 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 237 

during the vicissitudes of war. The utmost 
skill and caution are required to render these 
places of concealment invisible to the lynx eye 
of an Indian. 

The first care is to seek out a proper situation, 
which is generally some dry low bank of clay, 
on the margin of a water-course. As soon as 
the precise spot is pitched upon, blankets, 
saddle-cloths, and other coverings are spread 
over the surrounding grass and bushes, to pre- 
vent foot tracks, or any other derangement ; 
and as few hands as possible are employed. 
A circle of about two feet in diameter is then 
nicely cut in the sod, which is carefully removed, 
with the loose soil immediately beneath it, and 
laid aside in a place where it will be safe from 
anything that may change its appearance. The 
uncovered area is then digged perpendicularly 
to the depth of about three feet, and is then 
gradually widened so as to form a conical 
chamber six or seven feet deep. 

The whole of the earth displaced by this 
process, being of a different color from that on the 
surface, is handed up in a vessel, and heaped 
into a skin or cloth, in which it is conveyed to 
the stream and thrown into the midst of the 
current, that it may be entirely carried off. 



238 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Should the cache not be formed in the vicinity 
of a stream, the earth thus thrown up is canied 
to a distance, and scattered in such a manner as 
not to leave the minutest trace. The cave be- 
ing formed, is v^ell lined with dry grass, bark, 
sticks, and poles, and occasionally a dried hide. 
The property intended to be hidden is then laid 
in, after having been well aired : a hide is 
spread over it, and dried grass, brush, and 
stones throvm in, and trampled down until the 
pit is filled to the neck. The loose soil which 
had been put aside is then brought, and rammed 
dovni firmly, to prevent its caving in, and 
is frequently sprinkled with water to destroy 
the scent, lest the wolves and bears should be 
attracted to the place, and root up the concealed 
treasure. 

When the neck of the cache is nearly level 
with the surrounding surface, the sod is again 
fitted in with the utmost exactness, and any 
bushes, stocks, or stones, that may have origin- 
ally been about the spot, are restored to their 
former places. The blankets and other cover- 
ings are then removed from the surrounding 
herbage : all tracks are obliterated : the grass 
is gently raised by the hand to its natural posi- 
tion, and the minutest chip or straw is scrupu- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 239 

lously gleaned up and thrown into the stream. 
After all is done, the place is abandoned for 
the night, and, if all be right next morning, is 
not visited again, until there be a necessity for 
reopening the cache. Four men are sufficient 
in this way, to conceal the amount of three tons 
weight of merchandise in the course of two 
days. 



240 LIFE OF KIT CAESON, 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Carson had passed the autumn and winter 
with his family, in the society of old compan- 
ions, amid various incidents amusing to the 
reader if they were detailed, because so unlike 
the style of life to which he has been accus- 
tomed, the particulars of which we must how- 
ever leave to his imagination, aiding it by some 
general description of the customs of the 
country and locality. 

The town of Taos is the second in size in 
New Mexico (Santa Fe claiming of right to be 
first), with very little regard to beauty in its 
construction, the houses being huddled upon 
narrow streets, except in the immediate vicinity 
of the jplaza^ on which are located the church 
and the better class of houses ; and where, as 
in all Mexican towns, the marketing is carried 
on. It is situated in the center of the valley of 
Taos, which is about thirty miles long, and 
fifteen broad, and surrounded by mountains, 



UFE OF KIT CARSON. 241 

upon whose tops snow lies during the greater 
part of the year. 

The valley appears to be a plain, but is in- 
tersected by many ravines, which flow into the 
Eio Grande on its western side. There is no 
timber, but in the mountains it is abundant, 
and of excellent quality. The population in 
the whole valley numbers scarcely more than 
ten thousand, and as their farming operations 
require but a portion of the soil, the larger 
part of the land is still wild, and grazed only 
by horses, cattle, and sheep, which are raised 
in large numbers. 

They are obliged to expend much labor upon 
their crops, as the climate is too dry to mature 
them without irrigation ; and yet in their com- 
munity of interest, in a country without fences, 
they find much satisfaction in rendering kind 
offices to each other ; and social life is more cul- 
tivated than in communities whose interests are 
more separate. The high altitude, and dryness 
of the atmosphere, render the climate exceed- 
ingly healthful, rather severe in winter, but 
very mild and salubrious in summer, so that 
disease is scarcely known in the valley. 

The dress of the people has changed very 
much since the population became partially 

t6 



242 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Americanized, so that often the buckskin pants 
have given place to cloth, and the blanket to 
the coat, and the moccasin to the leathern 
shoe, and the dress of the women has under- 
gone as great a change. They are learning to 
employ American implements for agriculture, 
instead of the rude Egyptian yoke fastened to 
the horns of the oxen ; and the plow com- 
posed of a single hooked piece of timber, and 
the ax that more resembles a pick, than the 
ax of the American woodsman ; and the cart, 
whose wheels are pieces sawed from the butt 
end of a log, with a hole bored for the axle, 
whose squeaking can be heard for miles, and 
which are themselves a sufficient burden with- 
out any loading. Their diet is simple, as it is 
with all Mexicans, consisting of the products of 
the locality, with game, which is always to be 
included in a bill of fare such as Carson would 
furnish ; corn, and wheat, and peas, beans, eggs, 
pumpkins, and apples, pears, peaches, plums, 
and grapes, constitute the principal products of 
their culture. Their great source of enjoyment 
is dancing, and the fandango is so much an in- 
stitution in a to^vn of the size of Taos, that, 
during the winter, scarcely a night passes with- 
out a dance. This is doubtless familiar to the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 243 

reader, as tlie acquisition of California has in- 
troduced a knowledge of the customs of its 
natives to every eastern household. 

In the spring of 1845, Carson had decided to 
commence the business of farming at Taos, and 
had made the necessary arrangements for build- 
ing a house, and for stocking and planting, when 
an express arrived from Colonel Fremont, bring- 
ing despatches to remind him of his promise to 
join a third exploring expedition, in case he 
should ever undertake another, and to designate 
the place where he would meet the party Fre- 
mont was organizing. 

Before parting with Fremont in the previous 
summer, Fremont had secured the promise from 
Carson, that he would again be his guide and 
companion, should he ever undertake another 
expedition ; but Carson was not expecting its 
execution at this time, and yet, though it would 
entail severe loss on him to make a hasty sale 
of his possessions, and arrange for leaving his 
family, he felt bound by his promise, as well as 
by his attachment to Fremont, and at once 
closing up his business, together with an old 
friend by the name of Owens, who had become, 
as it were, a partner with him in his enterprise 
of farming, they having been old trapping 



244 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

friends, they repaired together to the point des- 
ignated for joining the exploring party, upon 
the upper Arkansas, at Bent's Fort, where they 
had last parted from Fremont. 

The meeting was mutually satisfactory, and 
with Fremont were Maxwell, an old and well- 
tried friend, and a Mr. Walker, who had been 
in Captain Bonneville's expedition to the Colum- 
bia, and in other trapping parties in California 
and vicinity, so that with other mountain men, 
whose names are less known, but every man of 
whom was Carson's friend, Fremont's corps 
was more efficient for the present service, than 
it had been in either of the former expeditions. 

After some months spent in examining the 
headwaters of the great rivers which flow to 
either ocean, the party descended at the begin- 
ning of winter to the Grreat Salt Lake, and in 
October encamped on its southwestern shore, in 
view of that undescribed country which at that 
time had not been penetrated, and which vague 
and contradictory reports of Indians repre- 
sented as a desert without grass or water. 

Their previous visit to the lake had given it 
a somewhat familiar aspect, and on leaving it 
they felt as if about to commence their journey 
anew. Its eastern shore was frequented by 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 245 

large bands of Indians, but here they had 
dwindled down to a single family, which was 
gleaning from some hidden source, enough to 
support life, and drinking the salt water of a 
little stream near by, no fresh water being at 
hand. This offered scanty encouragement as to 
what they might expect on the desert beyond. 

At its threshold and immediately before 
them was a naked plain of smooth clay surface, 
mostly devoid of vegetation — the hazy weather 
of the summer hung over it, and in the dis- 
tance rose scattered, low, black and dry-looking 
mountains. At what appeared to be fifty miles 
or more, a higher peak held out some promise 
of wood and water, and towards this it v^as 
resolved to direct their course. 

Four men, with a pack animal loaded with 
water for two days, and accompanied by a 
naked Indian — who volunteered for a reward 
to be their guide to a spot where he said there 
was grass and fine springs — were sent forward 
to explore in advance for a foothold, and verify 
the existence of water before the whole party 
should be launched into the desert. Their way 
led toward the high peak of the mountain, on 
which they were to make a smoke signal in the 
event of finding water. About sunset of the 



246 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

second day, no signal having been seen, Pre. 
mont became uneasy at the absence of his men, 
and set out with the whole party upon their 
trail, traveling rapidly all the night. Towards 
morning one of the scouts was met returning. 

The Indian had been found to know less 
than themselves, and had been sent back, but 
the men had pushed on to the mountains, where 
they found a running stream, with wood and 
sufficient grass. The whole party now lay 
down to rest, and the next day, after a hard 
march, reached the stream. The distance 
across the plain was nearly seventy miles, and 
they called the mountain which had guided 
them Pilot Peak. This was their first day's 
march and their first camp in the desert. 

A few days afterwards the expedition was 
divided into two parties — the larger one under 
the guidance of Walker, a well-known moun- 
taineer and experienced traveler, going around 
to the foot of the Sierra Nevada by a circuitous 
route which he had previously traveled, and 
Fremont, with ten men, Dela wares and whites, 
penetrated directly through the heart of the 
desei-t. 

Some days after this separation, Fremont's 
party, led by Carson, while traveling along the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 247 

foot of a mountain, the arid country covered 
with dwarf shrubs, discovered a volume of 
smoke rising from a ravine. Riding cautiously 
up, they discovered a single Indian on the 
border of a small creek. He was standing 
before a little fire, naked as he was born, 
apparently thinking, and looking at a small 
earthen pot which was simmering over the fire, 
filled with the common ground squirrel of the 
country. Another bunch of squirrels lay near 
it, and close by were his bow and arrows. He 
was a well-made, good-looking young man, 
about twenty-five years of age. Although so 
taken by surprise that he made no attempt to 
escape, and evidently greatly alarmed, he re- 
ceived his visitors with forced gaiety, and 
offered them part of his jpot an feu and his 
bunch of squirrels. He was kindly treated 
and some little presents made him, and the 
party continued their way. 

His bow was handsomely made, and the ar- 
rows, of which there were about forty in his 
quiver, were neatly feathered, and headed with 
obsidian, worked into spear-shape by patient 
labor. 

After they had separated, Fremont found 
that his Delawares had taken a fancy to the 



248 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Indian's bow and arrows, and earned them off. 
They carried them willingly back, when they 
were reminded that they had exposed the poor 
fellow to almost certain starvation by depriving 
him, in the beginning of winter, of his only 
means of subsistence, which it would require 
months to replace. 

One day the party had reached one of the 
lakes lying along the foot of the Sierra Nevada, 
which was their appointed rendezvous with 
their friends, and where, at this season, the 
scattered Indians of the neighborhood were 
gathering, to fish. Turning a point on the lake 
shore, a party of Indians, some twelve or four- 
teen in number, came abruptly in view. They 
were advancing along in Indian file, one fol- 
lowing the other, their heads bent forward, with 
eyes fixed on the ground. As the two parties 
met, the Indians did not turn their heads or 
raise their eyes from the ground, but passed 
silently along. The whites, habituated to the 
chances of savage life, and always uncertain 
whether they should find friends or foes in 
those they met, fell readily into their humor, 
and they too passed on their way without word 
or halt. 

It was a strange meeting: two parties of 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 249 

such different races and different countries, 
coming abruptly upon eacli other, with every 
occasion to excite curiosity and provoke ques- 
tion, pass in a desert without a word of inquiry 
or single remark on either side, or without 
any show of hostility. 

Walker's party joined Fremont at the ap- 
pointed rendezvous, at the point where Walker's 
River discharges itself into the lake, but it was 
now mid-winter, they were out of provisions — 
and there was no guide. The heavy snows 
might be daily expected to block up the passes 
in the great Sierra, if they had not already 
fallen, and with all their experience it was con- 
sidered too hazardous to attempt the passage 
with the materiel of a whole party ; it was ar- 
ranged therefore that Walker should continue 
with the main party southward along the Sierra, 
and enter the valley of the San Joaquin by 
some one of the low passes at its head, where 
there is rarely or never snow. Fremont under- 
took, with a few men, to cross directly westward 
over the Sierra Nevada to Sutter's Fort, with 
the view of obtaining there the necessary sup- 
plies of horses and beef cattle with which to 
rejoin his party. 

After some days' travel, leaving the Mercedes 



260 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

River, they had entered among the foothills of 
the mountains, and were journeying through a 
beautiful country of undulating upland, openly 
timbered with oaks, principally evergreen, and 
watered with small streams. 

Traveling along, they came suddenly upon 
broad and deeply- worn trails, which had been 
freshly traveled by large bands of horses, ap- 
parently coming from the settlements on the 
coast. These and other indications warned 
them that they were approaching villages of the 
Horse-Thief Indians, who appeared to have just 
returned from a successful foray. With the 
breaking up of the missions, many of the In- 
dians had returned to their tribes in the moun- 
tains. Their knowledge of the Spanish lan- 
guage, and familiarity with the ranches and 
towns, enabled them to pass and repass, at 
pleasure, between their villages in the Sierra 
and the ranches on the coast. They very soon 
availed themselves of these facilities to steal 
and run off into the mountains bands of horses, 
and in a short time it became the occupation of 
all the Indians inhabiting the southern Sierra 
Nevada, as well as the plains beyond. 

Three or four parties would be sent at a time 
from different villages, and every week was 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 261 

Signalized by the carry ing-off of hundreds of 
horses, to be killed and eaten in the interior. 
Repeated expeditions had been made against 
them by the Californians, who rarely succeeded 
in reaching the foot of the mountains, and were 
invariably defeated when they did. 

As soon as this fresh trail had been discov- 
ered, four men, two Delawares with Maxwell 
and Dick Owens, two of Fremont's favorite 
men, were sent forward upon the trail. The 
rest of the party had followed along at their 
usual gait, but Indian signs became so thick, 
trail after trail joining on, that they started 
rapidly after the men, fearing for their safety. 
After a few miles' ride, they reached a spot 
which had been the recent camping ground of 
a village, and where abundant grass and good 
water suggested a halting place for the night, 
and they immediately set about unpacking 
their animals and preparing to encamp. 

While thus engaged, they heard what seemed 
to be the barking of many dogs, coming appar- 
ently from a village, not far distant ; bat they 
had hardly thrown off their saddles when they 
suddenly became aware that it was the noise 
of women and children shouting and crying ; 
and this was sufficient notice that the men who 



262 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

had been sent ahead had fallen among un- 
friendly Indians, so that a fight had already 
commenced. 

It did not need an instant to throw the sad- 
dles on again, and leaving four men to guard 
the camp, Fremont, with the rest, rode off in 
the direction of the sounds. 

They had galloped but half a mile, when 
crossing a little ridge, they came abruptly in 
view of several hundred Indians advancing on 
each side of a knoll, on the top of which were 
the men, where a cluster of trees and rocks 
made a good defense. It was evident that they 
had come suddenly into the midst of the Indian 
village, and jumping from their horses, with 
the instinctive skill of old hunters and moun- 
taineers as they were, had got into an admii-a- 
ble place to fight from. 

The Indians had nearly surrounded the knoll, 
and were about getting possession of the horses, 
as Fremont's party came in view. Their wel- 
come shout as they charged up the hill, was 
answered by the yell of the Delawares as they 
dashed down to recover their animals, and the 
crack of Owens' and Maxwell's rifles. Owens 
had singled out the foremost Indian who went 
headlong down the hill, to steal horses no more. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 253 

Profiting by tlie first surprise of the Indians, 
and anxious for the safety of the men who had 
been left in camp, the whites immediately re- 
treated towards it, checking the Indians with 
occasional rifle shots, with the range of which 
it seemed remarkable that they were acquainted. 

The whole camp were on guard until daylight. 
As soon as it was dark, each man crept to his 
post. They heard the women and children re- 
treating towards the mountains, but nothing 
disturbed the quiet of the camp, except when one 
of the Delawares shot at a wolf as it jumped 
over a log, and which he mistook for an Indian. 
As soon as it grew light they took to the most 
open ground, and retreated into the plain. 
14 



254 LI^E OF KIT CAI^ON. 



CHAPTER XXV. 

The record of Fremont and Carson's journey 
through this region of country, ah'eady so 
thoroughly explored at such great hazard, and 
accompanied with such unheard-of sufferings, 
would be but a repetition of what has already 
been written, for they were again driven to 
mule meat, or whatever else chance or Provi- 
dence might throw in their way, to sustain life. 
In every need — in every peril — in every quarter 
where coolness, sagacity, and skill were most re- 
quired, Carson was ever first, and his conduct 
throughout cemented, if possible, more firmly 
the friendship between him and his young com- 
mander. 

They reached, at last, Sutter's Fort, where 
they were received with the hospitality which 
has made Mr. Sutter's name proverbial ; and 
leaving his party to recruit there, Fremont 
pushed on towards Monterey, to make known 
to the authorities there the condition of his 
party, and obtained permission to recruit and 



/ 
/ 



LIFE OF KIT CAKSON. 255 

procure the supplies necessary for the prose 
cution of his exploration. 

Journeying in the security of this permission, 
he was suddenly arrested in his march, near 
Monterey, by an officer at the head of a body 
of cavalry, who bore him a violent message from 
the commanding officer in California — Gen. 
Castro-j-commanding him to retire instantly 
from the country. 

There was now no alternative but to put 
himself on the defensive, as he had come to the 
country for an entirely peaceable purpose, and 
it was not in the blood of Americans to submit 
to dictation. The direction of travel was there- 
fore changed ; a strong point was selected and 
fortified as thoroughly as could be with the 
means at their command, which work was 
hardly completed before General Castro, at the 
head of several hundred men, arrived and es- 
tablished his camp within a few hundred yards 
and in sight of the exploring party, evidently 
under the mistaken idea that he could intimi- 
date them by his numbers. 

Though the Americans were but forty in 
number, every man had ah-eady seen service, 
and the half score of old traders and trappers, 
who had been leaders in many an Indian fight, 



256 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

made the party, small as it was, quite equal 
to that of the tenfold greater number of the 
Mexicans; for the men, equally with their 
leader, were determined to maintain their 
rights, and, if need be, to sacrifice their lives in 
defense of the cause of American citizens in 
Mexico; for in the three days during which 
they lay there encamped, expresses came in from 
the American citizens in Monterey, warning 
them of their danger, and announcing, too, the 
probability of a war with Mexico, and urging 
the propriety that every American should unite 
in a common defense against the Mexican au- 
thorities. 

At the end of three days the council which 
Fremont now called, agreed with him, that the 
Mexican General had no intention of attacking 
them, and that it was the more prudent course 
to break up camp, push on to the Sacramento 
River, and endeavor at Lawson's trading post 
to obtain the needed outfit for their return 
homeward through Oregon, as further explora- 
tion in southern California seemed out of the 
question ; and because, as an officer in the 
United States service, Fremont felt he could 
not commence, or willingly court, hostility with 
the Mexican authorities — besides, all the Amer- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 257 

lean residents in the country were equally in 
peril ; and if the event of war pressed upon 
them, preparation was needed, and should be 
made at once. 

In council Fremont found Carson ready for 
such, as for every emergency ; and, around the 
camp fires, where the subject was discussed, 
every man was ready for the affray; and while 
willing to retire and wait the command of the 
leader evinced no disposition to avoid it. 

The party remained ten days at Lawson's 
post, when information was brought that the 
Indians were in arms at the instigation of the 
Mexicans, as it was supposed, and were advanc- 
ing to destroy the post, and any other American 
settlement; and it was soon rumored that a 
thousand warriors were collected, and on their 
way to aid in this purpose. The time had now 
come for action, and, with five men from the 
post. Captain Fremont and his command, with 
Carson for his Lieutenant, by choice of the party, 
as well as of its leader, took up their march 
against the savages, in aid of their countrymen. 

They had no difficulty in finding the Indian 
war-party, and immediately made the attack, 
which was responded to with vigor by the In- 
dians, and contested bravely; but, of course, 

17 



258 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

with inability to conquer. The red men were 
defeated with terrible slaughter, and learned 
here the lesson not forgotten for many years, that 
it was useless to measure theii' strength with 
white men. 

Carson was, of course, as was his invariable 
custom, in the thickest of the fight, and when 
it was over, and the Indians had retired, cowed 
and defeated, ventured the opinion that they 
had received a lesson which would not be re- 
quired to be repeated in many years. 

This victory won, and present danger from 
these Indians thus avoided, the party returned 
to Lawson's post, where, having completed 
their outfit, they turned their backs on Mexican 
possessions, and started northward, Fremont 
looking to Oregon as the field of his future 
operations, intending to explore a new route to 
the Wah-lah-math settlements. 

While on that journey, Carson being as ever 
his guide, companion, and friend, the party 
was suddenly surprised by the appearance of 
two white men, who, as all knew from experi- 
ence, must have incurred the greatest perils and 
hazards to reach that spot. 

They proved to be two of Mr. Fremont's old 
voyageurs^ and quickly told their story. They 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 259 

were part of a guard of six men conducting a 
United States officer, who was on his trail with 
despatches from Washington, and whom they 
had left two days back, while they came on to 
give notice of his approach, and to ask that as- 
sistance might be sent him. They themselves 
had only escaped the Indians by the SAviftness 
of their horses. It was a case in which there 
was no time to be lost, nor a mistake made. 
Mr. Fremont determined to go himself; and 
taking ten picked men, Carson of course ac- 
companying him, he rode down the western 
shore of the lake on the morning of the 9th, 
(the direction the officer was to come,) and made 
a journey of sixty miles without a halt. But to 
meet men, and not to miss them, was the difficult 
point in this trackless region. It was not the 
case of a high-road, where all travelers must 
meet in passing each other : at intervals there 
were places — defiles, or camping grounds — 
where both parties might pass ; and watching 
for these, he came to one in the afternoon, and 
decided that, if the party was not killed, it 
must be there that night. He halted and en- 
camped ; and, as the sun was going down, had 
the inexpressible satisfaction to see the four 
men approaching. The officer proved to be 



260 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Lieuten ant Gillespie, of the United States Ma- 
rines, who had been degpatched from Washington 
the November previous, to make his way by 
Vera Cruz, the City of Mexico, and Mazatlaru, 
to Monterey, in Upper California, deliver de- 
spatches to the United States consul there ; and 
then find Mr. Fremont, wherever he should be. 

Carson, in a letter to the Washington Union 
in June, 1847, thus describes the interview, and 
the events consequent upon it : 

" Mr. Gillespie had brought the Colonel let- 
ters from home — the first he had had since 
leaving the States the year before — and he was 
up, and kept a large fire burning until after 
midnight ; the rest of us were tired out, and 
all went to sleep. This was the only night in 
all our travels, except the one night on the 
island in the Salt Lake, that we failed to keep 
guard ; and as the men were so tired, and we 
expected no attack now that we had sixteen in 
the party, the Colonel didn't like to ask it of 
them, but sat up late himself. Owens and I 
were sleeping together, and we were waked at 
the same time by the licks of the ax that 
killed our men. At first, I didn't know it was 
that ; but I called to Basil, who was on that side 
—'What's the matter there ?— What's that 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 261 

fuss about ? ' — he never answered, for he was 
dead then, poor fellow, and he never knew 
what killed him — his head had been cut in, in 
his sleep ; the other groaned a little as he 
died. The Delawares (we had four with us) 
were sleeping at that fire, and they sprang up 
as the Tlamaths charged them. One of them 
caught up a gun, which was unloaded ; but, 
although he could do no execution, he kept 
them at bay, fighting like a soldier, and didn't 
give up until he was shot full of arrows — 
three entering his heart ; he died bravely. As 
soon as I had called out, I saw it was Indians 
in the camp, and I and Owens together cried 
out " Indians." There were no orders given ; 
things went on too fast, and the Colonel had 
men with him that didn't need to be told their 
duty. The Colonel and I, Maxwell, Owens, 
Godey, and Stepp, jumped together, we six, 
and ran to the assistance of our Delawares. I 
don't know who fired and who didn't ; but I 
think it was Stepp's shot that killed the 
Tlamath chief; for it was at the crack of 
Stepp's gun that he fell. He had an English 
half-ax slung to his wnst by a cord, and there 
were forty arrows left in his quiver — the most 
beautiful and warlike arrows I ever saw. He 



262 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

must have been the bravest maii among them, 
from the way he was armed, and judging by 
his cap. When the Tlamaths saw him fall, 
they ran ; but we lay, every man with his rifle 
cocked until daylight, expecting another at- 
tack. 

"In the morning we found by the tracks 
that from fifteen to twenty of the Tlamaths 
had attacked us. They had killed three of our 
men, and wounded one of the Delawares, who 
scalped the chief, whom we left where he fell. 
Our dead men were carried on mules ; but, after 
going about ten miles, we found it impossible 
to get them any farther through the thick tim- 
ber, and finding a secret place, we buried them 
under logs and chunks, having no way to dig 
a grave. It was only a few days before this 
fight that some of these same Indians had 
come into our camp ; and, although we had 
only meat for two days, and felt sure that we 
should have to eat mules for ten or fifteen days 
to come, the Colonel divided with them, and 
even had a mule unpacked to give them some 
tobacco and knives." 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 263 



CHAPTER XXVL 

Those who have not been in similar dangers 
cannot properly appreciate the feelings of the 
survivors, as they watched with their dead and 
performed for them the last sad rites. Fre- 
mont had lost Lajeunesse, whom they all loved, 
and the other two, Crane and the Delaware 
Indian, were not less brave than he. The In- 
dians had watched for Lieutenant Gillespie, 
but in Fremont's coming up while three were 
taken, more were saved, and the benefit to the 
country, and perhaps the safety to Fremont's 
whole force was secured by the receipt of the 
despatches, and this early rencontre. None 
had apprehended danger that night, being, as 
they erroneously supposed, far removed from 
the Tlamath countrj^, and equally far from the 
point where they already had encountered and 
defeated the red men. The Indians never 
again found Fremont's party off guard, for the 
events of this night proved a serious and mel- 
ancholy, as well as a sufficient lesson. That 



264 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

they cherished revenge, is not to be wondered 
at, nor that they vowed to seek it at the 
earliest opportunity, as it was now known that 
war had been declared with Mexico, for such was 
the tenor of Lieutenant Gillespie's information. 
Fremont determined to return to California, 
and choosing to give his men a chance for re- 
venge before doing so, he traveled around 
Tlamath Lake, and, camping at a spot nearly 
opposite where his three men had been killed, 
the next morning sent Carson on in advance, 
with ten chosen men, and with instructions 
that, if he discovered a large Indian village, 
without being seen himself, he should send 
back word, and that he would hasten on with 
the rest of the party and give them battle ; but 
if this could not be done, to attack the village 
himself, if he thought the chances were equal. 

Of course Carson and his men were parties 
to this advice, choosing the situation of danger 
because only in that way could they revenge 
the death of their comrades. 

They were not long in finding a trail, which 
they followed to a village of fifty lodges, in 
each of which were probably three warriors. 
The village was in commotion, which indicated 
that they had discovered Carson and his party ; 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 265 

SO that no time could be lost, and Carson and 
his comrades at once determined to take ad- 
vantage of the confusion in which the Indian 
camp seemed to be, by making a sudden charge. 
The Indians had their families to defend, and 
were brave in proportion as that motive is an 
incentive to activity, therefore the attack of the 
white men was received and met with despera- 
tion. But a panic of fear seized them, owing to 
the suddenness of the attack, and they fled, 
leaving behind them all their possessions, while 
the victors pursued and shot them down with- 
out mercy, and when the \dctory was declared 
complete by their leader Carson, they returned 
to the richly-stored village. In all their travels 
and adventures, they had never seen an Indian 
village in which the lodges were more tasteful 
in their workmanship and their decorations, or 
which were better supplied with utensils of con- 
venience. The wigwams were woven of the 
broad leaves of a kind of flag which was highly 
combustible. Carson therefore ordered that 
they should be burned, having first visited them 
to see that their contents were so aiTanged as 
to be consumed in the conflagration. The work 
was completed in a few moments, and Fremont, 
seeing the smoke, knew that Carson was en- 



266 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

gaged witli the Indians, and hastened forward 
to render him any needed assistance. But he 
arrived only to hear the report of his lieuten- 
ant and to have the gloom of the whole party 
dispelled by the news of the victory accom- 
plished ; and to move on a little for an encamp- 
ment, and a talk in regard to their future opera- 
tions. 

The next day all started for the valley of 
the Sacramento, and were four days out from 
their camp when they came to a point on the 
river where it passes through a deep cafion, 
through which the trail would take them, but 
Carson advised to avoid this gorge, and they 
were wise in doing so, as Tlamath Indians were 
concealed there, intending to cut oif the party 
of white men. Disappointed that they had lost 
their prey, the Indians came out from this am- 
bush, and were immediately dispersed by Carson 
and Godey, and a few others, who made a 
charge upon them. But one old Indian, in- 
spired probably by revenge for some friend lost, 
stood his ground, and wdth several arrows in his 
mouth waited the attack he courted. Carson 
and Godey advanced, and when within shooting 
distance, were obliged to dodge rapidly to avoid 
the arrows leveled at them. The Indian was 



(?jj.^ u- 






-^ ^ LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



267 



behind a tree, and only by cautiously advancing 
while dodging the death he was sending from 
his bow, did Carson gain a position where he 
was able to aim a bullet at his heart. The 
beautiful bow and still unexhausted quiver that 
Carson took from this Indian, he presented to 
Lieutenant Gillespie on his return to camp. 

They were in the locality where game was 
scarce, not being able to find any, the whole 
party went supperless that night and breakfast- 
less next morning, but the next day they found 
some game, and came, after severe traveling for 
some days longer, safely in to PotgrLawspn's 
Fort, where they rested and hunted a week, 
and then moved lower down on the Sacramen- 
to, and again camped. But his men were rest- 
less from inactivity, and Fremont decided it was 
no longer wise to wait for positive instructions, 
as the war was probably commenced ; he there- 
fore sent a party of his force to take the little 
town and fort at Sonoma, which had but a 
weak garrison. They captured General Valle- 
jos here with two captains and several cannon, 
and a quantity of arms. The whole force united 
at Sonoma, and learning that the Mexicans and 
Americans in the south were engaged in open 
hostility, Fremont was preparing to join them, 



268 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

calling in all the Americans in the vicinity to 
come to his command, when a large Mexican 
force, despatched by General Castro from San 
Francisco, with orders to drive the Americans 
out of the country, came into the vicinity, and 
took prisoners and killed two men, whom Fre- 
mont had sent out as messengers to the Ameri- 
can settlers, to inform them that Sonoma was 
taken, and that they could fly thither for safety. 

The captain of this party of Mexicans, hear- 
ing that Fremont and his forces were anxious 
to attack him, lost all courage and fled, to be 
pursued by the party of explorers, who followed 
them closely for six days, and captured many 
horses which they had abandoned in their 
fright. But finding they could not overtake 
them, Fremont returned to Sonoma, and the 
party of Mexicans continued their march to Los 
Angeles, where Greneral Castro joined them. 

Around Fremont's party, the American citi- 
zens now rallied in great numbers — nearly all 
who were in the country — ^knowing that their 
time to aid in its emancipation had arrived. 
Fremont left a strong garrison at Sonoma, and 
went to Sutter's Fort, where he left his prison- 
ers, General Vallejos and the two captains, and 
an American, a brother-in-law of General Val- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 269 

lejos, and having put the fort under military 
rules, with all his mountain men, started to 
take possession of Monterey. But he had been 
anticipated in this work by Commodore Sloat, 
who was in port with the American squadron, 
and who left soon after Fremont's arrival, Com- 
modore Stockton assuming the command. 

Wtik^aL Sonoma, Fremont and his moun- 
tain men, with the American settlers, had de- 
clared the Independence of California, and 
assumed the Bear Flag, which he gallantly 
tendered to Commodore Sloat, and the flag of 
the United States was hoisted over his camp. 



270 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTEE XXVIL 

With Carson as his constant adviser, as he 
was now his acknowledged friend, Fremont 
here obtained the use of the ship Cjanne, to 
convey himself and his command to San Diego, 
where they hoped to be able to obtain animals, 
and march upon the Mexicans under General 
Castro, who was then at Los Angeles, leaving 
their own for the use of Commodore Stockton 
and his marines, who were to meet them at that 
place. 

With the Americans who joined him at San 
Diego, all of them pioneers of the true stamp, 
inured to hardships, hard fare, and Indian 
fights, Fremont's command numbered one hun- 
dred and fifty men, who started for Los Angeles, 
with perfect confidence in their own success, 
though the force of the enemy was seven or 
eight hundred. 

Fremont camped a league from this beautiful 
town, to await the arrival of the Commodore, 
who soon joined him, with " b& fine a body of 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 271 

men as I ever looked upon," to quote Carson'8 
own words, and the forces thus united marched 
at once upon Los Angeles, which they found 
deserted, as General Castro dared not risk a 
battle with such men as he knew Fremont com- 
manded. 

After this, Frgmont was appointed Governor 
of California by Commodore Stockton, and re- 
turned to Monterey and the northern portion 
of the country, while the Commodore went to 
San Diego, as that was a better port than San 
Pedro, the port of Los Angeles ; and General 
Castro returned to the possession of Los An- 
geles. 

Meantime, Carson, with a force of fifteen men, 
was despatched to make the overland journey 
to Washington, as the bearer of important des- 
patches. He was instructed to make the journey 
in sixty days if possible, which he felt sure of 
'being able to accomplish, though no one knew, 
better than he did, the difilculties he might ex- 
pect to encounter. 

When two days out from the copper mines 
of New Mexico, he came suddenly upon a vil- 
lage of Apache Indians, which his quick wit 
enabled him to elude. He rode forward in his 
path, as if unmindful of their presence, and 



272 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

halted in a wood a few yards from the village, 
which seemed to disconcert the inhabitants, 
unused to being approached with so much bold- 
ness, as they had never been treated in that 
manner by the Mexicans. He here demanded 
a parley, which was granted, and he told them 
that his party were simply travelers on the road 
to New Mexico, and that they had come to their 
village for an exchange of animals, as theirs 
were nearly exhausted. 

The Indians were satisfied with his explana- 
tion ; and Carson, choosing as his camping- 
ground a suitable spot for defense, traded with 
the Apaches to advantage, and at an early hour 
on the following morning resumed his journey, 
glad to be thus easily rid of such treacherous, 
thieving rascals. A few more days of travel 
brought him to the Mexican settlements, and 
near to his own home and family. The party 
had been, for some time, short of provisions, as 
their haste in traveling did not allow them to 
stop to hunt, and on the route — desert much 
of the way — there had been little game ; and 
now, with only a little corn which they ate 
parched, they were glad of relief, which Carson 
readily obtained from friends at the first ranche 
he entered ; for though the country was at war 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 273 

with the United States, Carson was a Mexican 
as much as an American, having chosen their 
country for his home, and taken a wife from 
their people. He was pursuing his course 
towards Taos, when, across a broad prairie, he 
espied a speck moving towards him, which his 
eagle eye soon discerned could not belong to 
the country. As it neared him, and its form 
became visible, hastening on, he met an expe- 
dition sent out by the United States Govern- 
ment to operate in California, under the com- 
mand of General Kearney, to which officer he 
lost no time in presenting himself, and narrated 
to him his errand, and the state of affairs in 
California, with the most graphic fidelity. 
Kearney was extremely glad to meet him, and 
after detaining him as long as Carson thought 
it wise to remain, proposed to Carson to return 
with him, while he should send the despatches 
to Washington by Mr. Fitzpatrick — with whom 
Carson had a familiar acquaintance ; and know- 
ing how almost invaluable his services would 
be to General Kearney, Carson gave the ready 
answer, " As the General pleases," trusting en- 
tirely to his fidelity in the matter, and as the 
exchange was a self-denial to him, he had no 

occasion to weigh the motives that might influ- 
iS 



274 LIFE OF KIT CAKSON. 

ence a man like General Kearney in the affair 
of the despatches, or the good that his presence 
with them might be to himself when he should 
arrive in Washington, but while he would have 
been glad to have met his family, he cared for 
the honor of having done his duty. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 275 



CHAPTER XXYIII. 

On the 18th of October, General Kearney took 
up his march from his camp upon the Rio 
Grande, having Christopher Carson for his 
guide, with instructions to lead the party by 
the most direct route to California: and so 
ably did Carson fulfil this official duty, so un- 
expectedly imposed upon him, that, with their 
animals in good condition still, they camped 
within the limit of California on the evening of 
the third of December, and the next morning 
advanced towards San Diego. 

But the Mexicans were not unapprised of 
the approach of American troops, and spies 
sent out by General Castro, to meet Kearney's 
force, were surprised and brought into camp 
by a scout which Carson attended. Compelled 
to give information, they said that the Mexi- 
can forces under its general, were planning an 
attack upon the Americans before they could 
join their California allies. Carson, with the 



276 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

understanding lie liad of General Kearney, and 
his knowledge of guerilla warfare, would have 
advised another route, to evade the Mexican 
troops and avoid a battle, until the weaiy and 
newly arrived soldiery had had some rest, and 
the assistance and advice of those who knew 
the last movements of the Mexicans, could 
make a battle more effectual with less of risk 
than now ; but General Kearney was impatient 
for an encounter with the stupid Mexicans, as 
he deemed them, and only learned by experi- 
ence that the Californians were superior to 
those he had known in other of the Mexican 
States, both in courage and natural tact, and in 
their military order and discipline, as the story 
will fully show. 

He kept on his course until he approached 
within fifteen miles of the Mexican camp, 
where he halted, and despatched a party to 
reconnoiter. They reported on their return, 
that the enemy were strongly fortified in an 
Indian callage ; but in making the observation 
the scout had been discovered and pursued 
back to camp. 

General Kearney determined to make an 
immediate attack, and commenced his march at 
one o'clock in the morning, with no rest that 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 277 

night for his animals or for his men ; and 
weary and hungry before day, when within a 
mile of Castro's camp the advance guard of the 
Americans came upon the advance guard of the 
Mexicans, which had been stationed to prevent 
a surprise. 

This Mexican guard slept in their dress, 
ready at a ^ve minutes' warning to mount in 
their saddles, which were their pillows, while 
their horses were tied to feed close around 
them. The sound of the trumpet commanded 
first a rapid trot, then a gallop, and the fifteen 
Americans under Captain Johnson with Kit 
Carson, of course, for his nextofiicer, had a brisk 
fight with this Mexican outpost, but failed to 
stampede their animals, as each Mexican mounted 
his own horse immediately and the guard drew 
back into camp. Captain Johnson and Carson 
were now joined by Captain Moore with twenty 
^ve Americans, a force that had united with 
Kearney's since he came into California, when 
Moore ordered an attack upon the center of the 
Mexican force, in order to divide it, and cause 
confusion in the Mexican ranks. 

The command of forty men were within a 
hundred yards of the enemy, and Carson among 
the foremost, when his horse suddenly fell and 



278 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

threw its rider, who was not seriously injured ; 
but the stock of his gun was shivered to splin- 
ters, and his position one of exceeding danger, 
as the whole body of dragoons went galloping 
over him. When he could arise from the ground, 
he saw a dead horseman lying near, whom he 
relieved of gun and cartridge box, and again 
mounting liis horse, upon whose bridle he had 
managed to retain his hold, he was speedily in 
the thickest of the fight, where the contest was 
becoming desperate. 

Captain Johnson and several of the soldiers in 
the advance had already been killed, and prob- 
ably only the fall of his horse had saved 
Carson's life, but he was now able to assist 
Moore and his men to dislodge the Mexicans, 
and oblige them to retreat. The Americans 
pursued them, but as there were only forty in 
the whole of General Kearney's command who 
were mounted on horses, and the mules which 
were ridden by the rest had become at once 
unmanageable when the firing commenced, their 
success was not complete. The horses they had 
were wild, having been captured by Captain 
Davidson and Kit Carson since their arrival in 
California, from a party of Mexicans bound for 
Sonora, so that even Moore's party had become 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 279 

scattered in the chase, and the pursuit accom- 
plished very little. 

The Mexicans immediately discovered the 
condition of the Americans, and turning back, 
recommenced the fight, which had been nearly 
a bloodless victory until now, but soon became 
for the Americans, a terrible slaughter. Every 
moment some dragoon yielded his life to the 
bullet or the deadly blow of an exasperated 
Mexican, and of the forty dragoons on horses 
thirty were either killed or severely wounded. 
Captain Moore, whom Carson calls, " as brave a 
man as ever drew the breath of life," was already 
among the killed. As fast as the American 
soldiers could come up, they joined the battle, 
but the Mexicans fought with a bravery unsur- 
passed, and seemed to carry all before them. 

General Kearney now drew his sword, and 
placed himself at the head of his remaining 
forces, and though severely wounded, attempted 
to again force the Mexicans to retreat, while 
Lieutenant Davidson came up with two moun- 
tain howitzers ; but before he could unlimber 
them for use, the men who were working them 
were shot down, and the lasso, thrown with 
unerring aim, had captured the horses attached 
to one of them, and the gun was taken to the 



280 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

ranks of the enemy, who, for some reason^ 
could not make it go off, or the American 
howitzer, at the distance of three hundred yards, 
would have done execution against those who 
had brought it thousands of miles to this point, 
to have it turned against them ; though Lieu- 
tenant Davidson had nearly lost his life in the 
attempt to save it, but to no purpose. 

The Americans were now obliged to take 
refuge at a point of rocks that offered, near 
where they had been defeated, for they had but 
two officers besides Carson, who were not either 
killed or wounded ; and here they waited for 
the Mexicans, but they did not again venture 
an attack. 

The fighting had continued throughout the 
entire day ; both sides were weaiy and spent, and 
night closed over this scene of battle, without 
any positive result to either party. General 
Kearney must now attend to the wounded, and 
all night the camp was occupied in the sad 
work of burying its dead, and alleviating the 
agony of the sufferers ; while, at the same 
time, a close watch was kept for the enemy, 
who were constantly receiving reinforcements, 
of Indians as well as Mexicans, from the 
country around. A council of war was held, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 281 

which at once decided it was best to advance 
toward San Diego in the morning, with the 
hope of soon receiving additions to their forces. 
General Kearney had despatched three men to 
San Diego, with messages to Commodore Stock- 
ton, and before the battle commenced, they had 
come back within sight of their comrades, when 
they were taken prisoners by the enemy ; and 
whether they had succeeded in getting through 
to San Diego, General Kearney did not know. 
Early in the morning, the command was again 
upon its way, with the following order of 
march : Carson, with twenty-five still able- 
bodied men, formed the advance, and the re- 
mainder, a much crippled band of soldiers, 
followed in the trail that he had made. Their 
march was continued all the morning, in the 
constant expectation of an attack from the 
Mexicans, who were also moving on, sometimes 
out of sight in the valleys, and sometimes seen 
from the neighboring hills. When the first 
opportunity occurred. General Kearney de- 
manded a parley, and arranged to exchange a 
lieutenant, whose horse had been shot from un- 
der him during the battle and who had conse- 
quently fallen into the hands of the Americans, 
for one of the express messengers the Mexicans 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

were detaining ; but it availed nothing, for the 
expressman stated that, finding it impossible to 
reach San Diego, he and his companions had 
returned, when they were captured by the 
Mexicans. 

The Mexicans had been maneuvering all 
day, and toward evening, as the Americans 
were about going into camp by a stream of 
water, came down upon them in two divisions, 
making a vigorous charge. The Americans 
were obliged to retire before such vastly 
superior numbers, and marched in order to a 
hill a little distance off, where they halted to 
give the Mexicans battle ; but the latter, seeing 
the advantage of the position, drew off to a 
neighboring height, where they commenced and 
continued a deadly cannonade upon the Ameri- 
cans. A party of Americans was sent to dis- 
lodge them, which they accomplished, and the 
whole force of the Americans went over to 
occupy that position, as they were compelled to 
make a resting place somewhere, because it was 
no longer possible for them to continue their 
march, with the Mexican force ready at any 
time to fall upon them. Upon this hill there 
was barely water enough for the men, and to 
take the horses to the stream could not be 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 283 

thought of, for the Mexicans would surely cap 
ture them ; nor had they any food left, except 
as they killed and ate their mules. 

The condition of the party had become ex- 
tremely desperate, and the war council that 
was called discussed a variety of measures, 
equally desperate with their condition, for im- 
mediate relief, until, when the rest had made 
their propositions, Carson again showed him- 
self " the right man in the right place," and 
when all besides were hopeless, was the salva- 
tion of his party. He rose in the council and 
said : 

" Our case is a desperate one, but there is yet 
hope. If we stay here, we are all dead men ; 
our animals cannot last long, and the soldiers 
and marines at San Diego do not know of our 
coming. But if they receive information of 
our position, they would hasten to our rescue. 
There is no use iu thinking why or how we are 
here, but only of our present and speedy es- 
cape. I will attempt to go through the Mexi- 
can lines, and will then go to San Diego, and 
send relief from Commodore Stockton." 

Lieutenant Beale, of the United States Navy, 
at once seconded Carson, and volunteered to 
accompany him. 



284 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Lieutenant Beale is now widely known for 
his valuable services to the country, and, as an 
explorer, he has few equals in the world. 

The wiiter is informed that he is now deeply 
interested in a wagon road across the country 
by the route he had Just crossed, at the time 
of which we write. His life has been full of 
strange adventures, since he left the service of 
the seas. 

General Kearney immediately accepted the 
proposal of Carson and Lieutenant Beale, as his 
only hope, and they started at once, as soon as 
the cover of darkness was hung around them. 
Their mission was to be one of success or of 
death to themselves and the whole force. Car- 
son was familiar with the custom of the Mexi- 
cans, as well as the Indians, of putting their 
ear to the ground to detect any sound, and 
knew, therefore, the necessity of avoiding the 
slightest noise. As this was not possible, 
wearing their shoes, they removed them, and 
putting them under their belts, crept on over 
the bushes and rocks, with the greatest caution 
and silence. 

They discovered that the Mexicans had three 
rows of sentinels, whose beats extended past 
each other, embracing the hill where Kearney 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 285 

and his command were held in siege. They 
were, doubtless, satisfied that they could not 
be eluded. But our messengers crept on, often 
so near a sentinel as to see his figure and 
equipment in the darkness ; and once, when 
within a few yards of them, one of the senti- 
nels had dismounted and lighted his cigarette 
with his flint and steel. Kit Carson seeing this, 
as he lay flat on the ground, had put his foot 
back and touched Lieutenant Beale, a signal to 
be still as he was doing. The minutes the 
Mexican was occupied in this way seemed hours 
to our heroes, who expected they were discov- 
ered ; and Carson afl&rms that they were so still 
he could hear Lieutenant Beale's heart pulsate, 
and in the agony of the time he lived a year. 
But the Mexican finally mounted his horse, and 
rode off in a contrary direction, as if he were 
guided by Providence, to give safety to these 
courageous adventurers. For full two miles 
Kit Carson and Lieutenant Beale thus worked 
their way along, upon their hands and knees, 
turning their eyes in every direction to detect 
anything which might lead to their discovery, 
and having passed the last sentinel, and left the 
lines sufficiently behind them, they felt an im- 
measurable relief in once more gaining their feet. 



286 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

But their shoes were gone, and in the ex- 
citement of the journey, neither of them had 
thought of their shoes since they first put them 
in their belts ; but they could speak again, and 
conorratulate each other that the imminent 
danger was past, and thank heaven that they 
had been aided thus far. But there were still 
abundant difficulties, as their path was rough 
with bushes, from the necessity of avoiding the 
well-trodden trail lest they be detected ; and 
the prickly pear covered the ground, and its 
thorns penetrated their feet at every step ; and 
their road was lengthened by going around out 
of the direct path, though the latter would have 
shortened their journey many a weary mile. 
All the day following they pursued their jour- 
ne}^, and on still, without cessation, into the 
night following, for they could not stop until 
assured that relief was to be furnished to their 
anxious and perilous conditioned fellow-sol- 
diers. 

Carson had pursued so straight a course, and 
aimed so con^ectly for his mark, that they en- 
tered the town by the most direct passage, and 
answering " friends " to the challenge of the 
sentinel, it was known from whence they came, 
and they were at once conducted to Commo- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 287 

dore Stockton, to whom they related the errand 
on which they had come, and the further par- 
ticulars we have described. 

Commodore Stockton immediately detailed a 
force of nearly two hundred men, and with his 
usual promptness, ordered them to seek their 
besieged countrymen by forced marches. 

They took with them a piece of ordnance, 
which the men were obliged to draw themselves, 
as there were in readiness no animals to be 
had. Carson did not return with them, as his 
feet were in a terrible condition, and he needed 
to rest or he might lose them, but he described 
the position of General Kearney so accurately, 
that the party to relieve him would find him 
with no difficulty ; and yet, if the Commodore 
had expressed the wish, he would have under- 
taken to conduct the relief party upon its 
march. 

Lieutenant Beale was partially deranged for 
several days, from the effects of this severe serv- 
ice, and was sent on board the frigate lying in 
port for medical attendance; but he did not 
fully recover his former physical health for 
more than two years ; but he never spoke re- 
gretfully of an undertaking, which was not ex- 
celled by any feat performed in the Mexican war. 



288 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

The reinforcement readied General Kearney 
without a collision with the Mexicans, and very 
soon all marched to San Diego, where the 
wounded soldiei*s received medical attendance. 

We have spoken of the superiority of char- 
acter of the California Mexicans over that of 
the inhabitants of the other Mexican States. 
The officials appointed at the Mexican capital 
for this State, were treated deferentially or cav- 
alierly, as they consulted or disregarded the 
wishes of the people, and often it happened 
that a Governor-General of California was put 
on board a ship at Monterey, and directed to 
betake himself back to those who sent him. 

California was so remote from the headquar- 
ters of the general government, that these things 
were done with impunity, for it would have 
been difficult to send a force into the State 
that could subdue it, with its scattered popula- 
tion, and if laws obnoxious to them were en- 
acted, and they violated them, or expelled an 
official who proposed their enforcement, it was 
quietly overlooked. Managing their own af- 
fairs in this way, a spirit of independence and 
bold daring had been cultivated, especially since 
the time when our story of California life com- 
menced in Carson's first visit to that State, nor 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 289 

had the intercourse with Americans hitherto 
lessened these feelings, for the California Mex- 
icans admired the Americans, as they called 
them, and cultivated good fellowship with them 
generally ; so that we see when the Bear Flag 
and Independence of the State became the 
order under Fremont and his party, many of 
its leading citizens came at once into the ar- 
rangement, or were parties in it at the first. 

Had the conquest and government of the 
country been conducted wholly by Fremont, it 
would have exhibited very little expenditure 
of life, for conciliation and the cultivation of 
kindly feeling was the policy he pursued ; in- 
deed, with Carson as prime counselor, whose 
wife at home in Taos owned kindred with this 
people as one of the same race, how could it 
have been otherwise ! though as Americans and 
citizens of the United States, in whose employ 
they acted, first allegiance was ever cheerfully 
accorded to their country, by Carson equally 
with Fremont, as the history of California most 
fully proves. 

The United States forces at San Diego were 

not in condition to again take the field, until a 

number of weeks had elapsed, when a command 

of six hundred had been organized for the pur- 

19 



290 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

pose of again capturing Los Angeles, where 
the Mexican forces were concentrated, and 
General Kearney and Commodore Stockton 
were united in conducting it, and in two days 
arrived within fifteen miles of the town, near 
where the Mexican army, to the number of 
seven hundred, had established themselves 
strongly upon a hill beside their camp, and 
between whom and the Americans flowed a 
stream of water. 

General Kearney ordered two pieces of ar- 
tillery planted where they would ralie the po- 
sition of the Mexicans, which soon forced them 
to break up their camp, when General Kearney 
and Commodore Stockton immediately marched 
into the town, but only to find it destitute of 
any militaiy control, as the Mexican army had 
gone northward to meet Colonel Fremont who 
had left Monterey with a force of four hundred 
Americans, to come to Los Angeles. 

The Mexicans found Colonel Fremont, and 
laid down their arms to him, probably prefer- 
ring to give him the honor of the victory rather 
than General Kearney, though if this was or 
was not the motive, history now sayeth not. 
Colonel Fremont continued his march and came 
to Los Angeles, and as the fighting for the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 291 

present certainly was over, he and his men 
rested here for the winter, where Carson, who 
had been rendering all the aid in his power to 
General Kearney, now gladly joined his old 
commander. 

The position of the American forces, had the 
camps been harmonious, was as comfortable 
and conducive to happiness during the winter 
as it was possible for it to be, and the Mexican 
citizens of Los Angeles had been so conciliated, 
the time might have passed pleasantly. But, 
as we have intimated, General Kearney had a 
general contempt for the Mexicans, and his 
position in the camp forbade those pleasant 
civilities which had commenced in San Diego 
before his arrival, and would have been prose- 
cuted in Los Angeles, to the advantage of 
all concerned ; for, as many of the men in Fre- 
mont's camp were old residents of the country, 
and known and respected by the Mexican 
citizens, with whom some of them had con- 
tracted intimate social relations, it is not 
wonderful that the Mexican officers and sol- 
diers chose to lay down their arms to him and 
his command. Fremont had beside, at the 
instigation of Carson as well as of his own 
inclination, taken every reasonable opportunity 



292 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

to gratify their love of social life, by joining in 
their assemblies as opportunity offered; and 
for this, as well as his magnanimous courage, 
we can appreciate their choice in giving him 
the palm of victory. 



UFE OF KIT CARSON. 293 



CHAPTER XXIX. 

Events transpire rapidly when a country is 
in a state of revolution. Early in Marcli of 
'46 the little party of explorers received the 
"first hostile message " from General Castro — 
the Commandant General of California — which, 
though really a declaration of war, upon a 
party sent out by the United States Govern- 
ment on a purely scientific expedition, had 
been received and acted upon by Fremont with 
moderation, and actual war had not been de- 
clared until July, when Sonoma was taken, and 
the flag of independence hoisted on the fourth 
of that month, and Fremont elected Governor 
of California. 

While hearing indefinitely of these events, 
Commodore Sloat, who, with the vessels be- 
longing to his command, was lying at Mon- 
terey, had hoisted the flag of the United 
States over that city, anticipating any com- 
mand to do so on the part of his government, 
and anticipating also the action of the com- 



294 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 

mander of tlie British ship of war, sent for a 
similar purpose, which arrived at Monterey on 
the 19th of July, under the command of Sir 
George Seymour; one of whose officers, in a 
book published by him after his return to 
England, describes the entrance of Fremont 
and his party into Monterey as follows : 
• '' During our stay in Monterey," says Mr. 
Walpole, " Captain Fremont and his party ar- 
rived. They naturally excited curiosity. Here 
were true trappers, the class that produced 
the heroes of Fenimore Cooper's best works. 
These men had passed years in the wilds, living 
upon their ow^n resources ; they were a curious 
set. A vast cloud of dust appeared first, and 
thence in long file emerged this wildest wild 
party. Fremont rode ahead, a spare, active-look- 
ing man, with such an eye ! He was dressed 
in a blouse and leggings, and wore a felt hat. 
After him came ^ve Delaware Indians, who 
were his body-guard, and have been with him 
through all his wanderings ; they had charge 
of two baggage horses. The rest, many of them 
blacker than the Indians, rode two and two, the 
rifle held by one hand across the pommel of the 
saddle. Thirty-nine of them are his regular 
men, the rest are loafers picked up lately ; his 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 295 

original men are principally backwoodsmen, 
from tlie State of Tennessee and the banks of 
the upper waters of the Missouri. He has one or 
two with him who enjoy a high reputation in 
the prairies. Kit Carson is as well known there 
as 'the Duke' is in Europe. The dress of 
these men was principally a long loose coat of 
deer skin, tied with throngs in front ; trowsers 
of the same, of their own manufacture, which, 
when wet through, they take off, scrape well 
inside with a knife, and put on as soon as dry ; 
the saddles were of various fashions, though 
these and a large drove of horses, and a brass^ 
field-gun, were things they had picked up 
about California. They are allowed no liquor, 
tea and sugar only ; this, no doubt, has much 
to do with their good conduct ; and the disci- 
pline, too, is very strict. They were marched 
up to an open space on the hills near the town, 
under some large fires, and there took up their 
quarters, in messes of six or seven, in the open 
air. The Indians lay beside their leader. One 
man, a doctor, six feet six high, was an odd- 
looking fellow. May I never come under his 
hands!" 

Commodore Stockton had arrived the same 
day with Fremont and Carson and their oom- 



296 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

mand, and under him Fremont had been ap- 
pointed General in Chief of the California 
forces, with Carson for his first Lieutenant; 
Stockton assuming the civil ofiice of Governor 
of the country. This had been deemed a 
measure of necessity, from the fact that the 
California Mexicans had not yet learned, from 
the Mexican authorities, the actual declaration 
of war between the United States and Mexico ; 
and therefore looked upon the operations of 
the Americans as the acts of adventurers for 
theii" own aggrandizement ; and yet, with all 
the intensity of feeling such ideas aroused, 
Fremont and Carson had won their admiration 
and their hearts, by the rapidity of their 
movements, their sudden and effective blows, 
and the effort by despatch to avoid all cruelty 
and bloodshed as far as possible. 

In this way had San Diego, San Pedro, Los 
Angeles, Santa Barbara, and the whole coun- 
try, as the Mexican authorities declared, come 
into the possession of Commodore Stockton 
and General Fremont, as a conquered territory, 
taken in behalf of the United States ; and the 
whole work been completed in about sixty days 
from the time the first blow was struck ; and 
when all was accomplished, and the conquest 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 297 

complete, Carson started upon his errand to 
communicate the intelligence to the general 
government at Washington ; with the knowl- 
edge that all the leading citizens of California, 
native as well as the American settlers, were 
friendly to Fremont, and on his account to 
Commodore Stockton. 

During the three months of Carson's absence, 
events had transpired that made it necessary 
to do this work over again, resulting in a 
measure from the indiscretions of American 
officers, which induced insurrection on the part 
of the Mexicans. The arrival of General 
Kearney with United States troops still further 
excited them, and produced results which were 
everything but pleasant to Fremont and Com- 
modore Stockton, the details of which we for- 
bear to give, simply saying that Carson's re- 
gard for Fremont showed itself by his return 
to his service, and doing all that he could to 
forward his interests, and in his often attend- 
ing him in his excursions. Fremont's com- 
mand was an independent battalion ; and con- 
cerning the last and final contest, General Kear- 
ney thus wrote to the War Department : 

" This morning, Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, 
of the regiment of mounted riflemen, reached 



298 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

here ^dth four hundred volunteers from the 
Sacramento; the enemy capitulated with him 
yesterday, near San Fernando, agreeing to lay 
down their arms ; and we have now the prospect 
of having peace and quietness in this country, 
which I hope may not be interrupted again." 

It was during Carson's absence, en route for 
Washington, that Fremont accomplished the 
most extraordinary feat of physical energy and 
endurance ever recorded. We find it in the 
"National Intelligencer," of November 22, 1847, 
and quote it entire, as illustrating not only the 
physical powers of human endurance produced 
by practise and culture, but the wonderful 
sagacity and enduring qualities of the Califor- 
nia horses : 

"The Extraordinary Ride of Lieut.-Col. 
Fremont, his friend Don Jesus Pico, and 
his Servant, Jacob Dodson, from Los An- 
geles TO Monterey and Back in March, 

1847. 

"This extraordinary ride of 800 miles in 
eight days, including all stoppages and near two 
days' detention — a whole day and a night at 
Monterey, and neai'ly two half-days at San Luis 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 299 

Obispo — having been brought into evidence be- 
fore the Army Court Martial now in session in 
this city, and great desire being expressed by 
some friends to know how the ride was made, I 
herewith send you the particulars, that you may 
publish them, if you please, in the National In- 
telligencer, as an incident connected with the 
times and affairs under review in the trial, of 
which you give so full a report. The circum- 
stances were first got from Jacob, afterwards 
revised by Colonel Fremont, and I drew them 
up from his statement. 

" The publication will show, besides the horse- 
manship of the riders, the power of the Califor- 
nia horse, especially as one of the horses was 
subjected, in the course of the ride, to an extraor- 
dinary trial, in order to exhibit the capacity 
of his race. Of course this statement will make 
no allusion to the objects of the journey, but 
be confined strictly to its performance. 

" It was at daybreak on the morning of the 
2 2d of March, that the party set out from La 
Ciudad de los Angeles (the city of the Angels) 
in the southern part of Upper California, to 
proceed, in the shortest time, to Monterey on 
the Pacific coast, distant full four himdred miles. 
The way is over a mountainous country, much 



300 LI^E OF KIT CARSON. 

of it uninhabited, with no other road than a 
trace, and many defiles to pass, particularly the 
maritime defile of el Iliiwon or Punto Gordo, 
fifteen miles in extent, made by the jutting of a 
precipitous mountain into the sea, and which 
can only be passed when the tide is out and the 
sea calm, and then in many places through the 
waves. The towns of Santa Barbara and San 
Luis Obispo, and occasional ranches, are the 
principal inhabited places on the route. Each 
of the party had three horses, nine in all, to take 
their turns under the saddle. The six loose 
horses ran ahead, without bridle or halter, and 
required some attention to keep to the track. 
When wanted for a change, say at the distance of 
twenty miles, they were caught by the lasso^ 
thrown either by Don Jesus or the servant Jacob, 
who, though born in Washington, in his long 
expeditions with Colonel Fremont, had become 
as expert as a Mexican with the lasso, as sure as 
the mountaineer with the rifle, equal to either 
on horse or foot, and always a lad of courage 
and fidelity. 

" None of the horses were shod, that being a 
practise unknown to the Californians. The most 
usual gait was a sweeping gallop. The first day 
they ran one hundred and twenty-five miles, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 301 

passing tlie San Fernando mountain, the defile of 
the Rincon, several other mountains, and slept at 
the hospitable ranche of Don Thomas Robberis, 
beyond the town of Santa Barbara. The only 
fatigue complained of in this day's ride, was in 
Jacob's right arm, made tired by throwing the 
lasso, and using it as a whip to keep the loose 
horses to the track. 

" The next day they made another one hun- 
dred and twenty-five miles, passing the formi- 
dable mountain of Santa Barbara, and counting 
upon it the skeletons of some fifty horses, part 
of near double that number which perished in 
the crossing of that terrible mountain, by the 
California battalion, on Christmas day, 1846, 
amidst a raging tempest, and a deluge of rain 
and cold more killing than that of the Sierra 
Nevada — the day of severest suffering, say Fre- 
mont and his men, that they have ever passed. 
At sunset, the party stopped to sup with the 
friendly Captain Dana, and at nine at night San 
Luis Obispo was reached, the home of Don 
Jesus, and where an affecting reception awaited 
Lieutenant-Colonel Fremont, in consequence of 
an incident which occurred there that history will 
one day record; and he was detained till 10 
o'clock in the morning receiving the visits of 



302 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

the inhabitants, (mothers and children inchided,) 
taking a breakfast of honor, and waiting for a 
relief of fresh horses to be brought in from the 
surrounding country. Here the nine horses 
from Los Angeles were left, and eight others 
taken in their place, and a Spanish boy added 
to the party to assist in managing the loose 
horses. 

'' Proceeding at the usual gait till eight at 
night, and having made some seventy miles, 
Don Jesus, who had spent the night before 
with his family and friends, and probably with 
but little sleep, became fatigued, and proposed 
a halt for a few hours. It was in the valley of 
the Salinas (salt river called Buena Ventura 
in the old maps,) and the haunt of marauding 
Indians. For safety during their repose, the 
party turned off the trace, issued through a 
carton into a thick wood, and laid down, the 
horses being put to grass at a short distance, 
with the Spanish boy in the saddle to watch. 
Sleep, when commenced, was too sweet to be 
easily given up, and it was half-way between 
midnight and day, when the sleepers were 
aroused by an estampedo among the horses, and 
the calls of the boy. The cause of the alai-m 
was soon found, not Indians, but white bears — 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 303 

this valley being their great resort, and the 
place where Colonel Fremont and thirty -five of 
his men encountered some hundred of them the 
summer before, killing thirty upon the ground. 

" The character of these bears is well known, 
and the bravest hunters do not like to meet 
them without the advantage of numbers. On 
discovering the enemy. Colonel Fremont felt for 
his pistols, but Don Jesus desired him to lie 
still, saying that ' people could scare bears ; ' and 
immediately hallooed at them in Spanish, and 
they went off. Sleep went off also ; and 
the recovery of the horses frightened by the 
bears, building a rousing fire, making a break- 
fast from the hospitable supplies of San Luis 
Obispo, occupied the party till daybreak, when 
the journey was resumed. Eighty miles, and 
the afternoon brought the party to Monterey. 

" The next day, in the afternoon, the party 
set out on their return, and the two horses rode 
by Colonel Fremont from San Luis Obispo, being 
a present to him from Don Jesus, he (Don Je- 
sus) desired to make an experiment of what 
one of them could do. They were brothers, 
one a grass younger than the other, both of the 
same color, (cinnamon,) and hence called el- 
ccMcdo^ or los cafialos^ (the cinnamon or the cin- 



304: LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

namons.) The elder was to be taken for the 
trial ; and the journey commenced upon him at 
leaving Monterey, the afternoon well advanced. 
Thirty miles under the saddle done that even- 
ing, and the party stopped for the night. In 
the morning, the elder canalo was again under 
the saddle for Colonel Fremont, and for ninety 
miles he carried him without a change, and 
without apparent fatigue. It was still thirty 
miles to San Luis Obispo, where the night was 
to be passed, and Don Jesus insisted that canalo 
could do it, and so said the horse by his looks 
and action. But Colonel Fremont would not put 
him to the trial, and, shifting the saddle to the 
younger brother, the elder was turned loose to 
run the remaining thirty miles without a rider. 
He did so, immediately taking the lead and 
keeping it all the way, and entering San Luis in 
a sweeping gallop, nostrils distended, snuffing 
the air, and neighing with exultation at his re- 
turn to his native pastures ; his younger brother 
all the time at the head of the horses under the 
saddle, bearing on his bit, and held in by his 
rider. The whole eight horses made their one 
hundred and twenty miles each that day, (after 
thirty the evening before,) the elder cinnamon 
making ninety of his under the saddle that day, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 305 

besides thirty under the saddle the evening be- 
fore ; nor was there the least doubt that he 
would have done the whole distance in the same 
time if he had continued under the saddle. 

" After a hospitable detention of another 
half a day at San Luis Obispo, the party set 
out for Los Angeles, on the same nine horses 
which they had rode from that place, and made 
the ride back in about the same time they had 
made it up, namely, at the rate of 125 miles a 
day. 

" On this ride, the grass on the road was the 
food for the horses. At Monterey they had 
barley ; but these horses, meaning those trained 
and domesticated^ as the canalos were, eat al- 
most anything of vegetable food, or even drink, 
that their master uses, by whom they are petted 
and caressed, and rarely sold. Bread, fruit, 
sugar, coffee, and even wine, (like the Persian 
horses,) they take from the hand of their mas- 
ter, and obey with like docility his slightest in- 
timation. A tap of the whip on the saddle, 
springs them into action ; the check of a thread 
rein (on the Spanish bit) would stop them : and 
stopping short at speed they do not jostle the 
rider or throw him forward. They leap on any- 
thing — man, beast, or weapon, on which their 



20 



306 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

master directs them. But tliis description, so 
far as conduct and behavior are concerned, of 
course only applies to the trained and domes- 
ticated hoi-se. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 307 



CHAPTER XXX. 

During tlie autumn of 1846, Fremont had 
had no time to visit his Mariposa purchase ; 
but in the winter, while at Los Angeles, in- 
viting Carson and Godey and two of his Dela- 
ware Indians, and his constant attendant Dob- 
son, to take a tramp with him for hunting, in 
the time of sunny skies in February, he ex- 
tended his hunt thither, and accomplished the 
discovery that he had a well-wooded and well- 
watered — for California well watered — tract of 
land, of exceeding beauty, clothed, as it was at 
this season, with a countless variety of flowering 
plants, these being the grasses of the country, 
and seemingly well adapted for tillage, certainly 
an excellent spot for an immense cattle ranche. 
They killed deer and antelope and smaller 
game, and with the lasso captured a score of 
wild horses from a drove of hundreds that fled 
at their approach ; returning to Los Angeles 
within a week from the time of their departure, 
laden with the spoils of the chase. 

Nor could these busy men refuse the kindly 



308 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

hospitalities tendered them by the old and 
wealthy natives of Los Angeles. We have 
described their style of life as Carson had wit- 
nessed it in 1828 ; and now at a ball given by 
Don Pio Pico — for the fandango of the Mexi- 
can is a part of his life, and with all his re- 
verses of fortune it must come in for its place 
— Carson and Fremont are of course guests, 
and Lieutenant Gillespie, and some other of 
the American officers. As the company was a 
mixed one, we will not attempt a description, 
but quote from Bayard Taylor's California, a 
scene of a similar kind at the close of the Con- 
stitutional Convention, about two years later 
when, with the discovery of gold, California 
had a population sufficient to demand a State 
government, and made one for herself, and 
prepared to knock for admission into the Union 
of States. In this Convention were the old 
fathers of California, American army officers, 
and some more recent arrivals ; and well was it 
for California that the steps for the organization 
of her State government were taken so early, 
when the fact of Mexicans and natives having 
a claim was not ignored, as it might have been 
at a later date by the reckless adventurers who 
thronged the golden shore. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 309 

But it IS only the ball at tlie close of the 
Convention we propose to describe, at which 
Colonel Fremont and David C. Broderick were 
present, as members of the Convention. 

" The morning Convention was short and ad- 
journed early yesterday, on account of a ball 
given by the Convention to the citizens of Mon- 
terey. The members, by a contribution of $25 
each, raised the sum of $1,100 to provide for 
the entertainment, which was got up in re- 
turn for that given by the citizens about four 
weeks since. 

'' The Hall was cleared of the forms and 
tables, and decorated with young pines from 
the forest. At each end were the American 
colors tastefully disposed across the boughs. 
Then chandeliers, neither of bronze or cut-glass, 
but neat and brilliant withal, poured their light 
upon the festivities. At eight o'clock — the 
fashionable hour in Monterey — the guests began 
to assemble, and in an hour afterward the Hall 
was crowded with nearly all the Californian 
and American residents. There were sixty 
ladies present, and an equal number of gentle- 
men, in addition to the members of the Con- 
vention. The dark-eyed daughters of Mon- 
terey, Los Angeles, and Santa Barbara mingled 



310 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

in pleasing contrast with the fairer bloom of the 
trans-Nevadian belles. The variety of feature 
and complexion was fully equaled by the 
variety of dress. In the whirl of the waltz, a 
plain, dark, nun-like robe would be followed by 
one of pink satin and gauze ; next, perhaps, a 
bodice of scarlet velvet, with gold buttons, and 
then a rich figured brocade, such as one sees on 
the stately dames of Titian. 

" The dresses of the gentlemen showed con- 
siderable variety, but were much less pictur- 
esque. A complete ball-dress was a happiness 
attained only by a fortunate few, many appear- 
ing in borrowed robes. 

" The appearance of the company, neverthe- 
less, was genteel and respectable ; and perhaps 
the genial, unrestrained social spirit, that pos- 
sessed all present, would have been less, had 
there been more uniformity of costume. 
General Riley was there in full uniform, with 
the yellow sash he wore at Contreras ; Majors 
Canby, Hill, and Smith, Captains Burton, and 
Kane, and the other officers stationed at Mon- 
tery, accompanying him. In one group might 
be seen Captain Sutter s soldierly mustache and 
blue eye, in another the erect figure and quiet, 
dignified bearing of General Vallejos ; Don 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 3H 

Peblo de la Guerra, witli Ms handsome, aristo- 
cratic features, was the floor manager, and 
gallantly discharged his office. Conspicuous 
among the members were Don Miguel de Rod- 
razena, and Jacinto Kodriguez, both polished 
gentlemen and deservedly popular. Domin- 
guez, the Indian member, took no part in the 
dance, but evidently enjoyed the scene as much 
as any one present. The most interesting figure 
to me, was that of Padre Remisez, who, in his 
clerical cassock, looked on until a late hour. If 
the strongest advocate of priestly gravity and 
decorum had been present, he could not have 
found in his heart to grudge the good old padre 
the pleasure that beamed from his honest coun- 
tenance. 

" The band consisted of two violins and two 
guitars, whose music made up in spirit what it 
lacked in skill. They played, as it seemed to 
me, but three pieces alternately, for waltz, con- 
tra-dance, and quadrille. The latter dance was 
evidently an unfamiliar one, for once or twice 
the music ceased in the middle of the figure. 
The etiquette of the dance was marked by that 
grave, stately courtesy, which has been handed 
down from the old Spanish times. The gentle- 
men invariably gave the ladies their hand to 



312 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

lead ttem to tlieir places on tlie floor ; in the 
pauses of tlie dance both paivties stood motion- 
less side by side, and at the conclusion the lady 
was gravely led back to her seat. 

" At twelve o'clock supper was announced. 
The Court room in the lower story had been 
fitted up for the purpose, and as it was not 
large enough to admit all the guests, the ladies 
were first conducted thither, and waited upon 
by a select committee. The refreshments con- 
sisted of turkey, roast-pig, beef, tongue, and 
pates^ with wines and liquors of various sorts, 
and coffee. A large supply had been provided, 
but after everybody was served, there was not 
much remaining. The ladies began to leave 
about two o'clock, but an hour later the dance 
was still going on with spirit." 

The dance at the home of Pico, was after 
the same fashion — and similar to those we have 
mentioned as the constant amusement of the 
people at Taos, where Carson resided, and in 
all the Mexican cities. 

But Carson was too valuable an aid to be 
long allowed to be idle. In March, 1847, he 
was ordered to be the bearer of important des- 
patches to the War Department at Washington, 
and Lieutenant Beale was directed to accom- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 3I3 

pany him with despatches for the Department 
of the Navy. The latter was still so much an 
invalid as to require Carson to lift him on and 
off his horse for the first twenty days of the 
journey, but Carson's genial spirits and kindly 
care, with the healthful exercise of horseman- 
ship, recovered him rapidly ; and the country 
was so well known to Carson that they avoided 
collisions with the Indians by eluding their 
haunts ; except once upon the Gila, when they 
were attacked in the night, and a shower of 
arrows sent among them as they lay in camp, 
from which his men had escaped, being injured 
by holding their packsaddles before them. They 
stopped briefly at Taos, and pursued their 
journey so rapidly that the two thousand ^ve 
hundred miles on horseback, and the fifteen 
hundred by railroad, were accomplished in less 
than three months. 

The incidents of such a journey had become 
every-day scenes to Carson, so that their nar- 
ration would seem to him a waste of words on 
the part of his biographer. And yet the emo- 
tions with which he witnessed, for the first 
time, the monument of advancing civilization 
in the Eastern cities, and the zest w^ith which 
he enjoyed the social comforts of the hospitality 



314 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

afforded him at the homes of Lieutenant Beale 
and Colonel Benton, can be better imagined than 
described. He had taken but a small supply 
of provisions from Los Angeles, lest it should 
be cumbersome to him, and as the road lay 
often through a country destitute of game, there 
had been fasting on the way, sometimes days 
together ; but his party, which he had selected, 
making their ability to endure such an enter- 
prise a leading quality of commendation to 
him, bore all without a murmur ; stimulated 
by the one impulse, of reaching their homes and 
friends, while Carson cared to secure the ap- 
probation of those whom he served, and the 
consciousness of having been an honor to his 
country. 

Colonel Benton met him at St. Louis, and 
reaching Washington, Mrs. Fremont was at the 
depot to take him to hers and her father's home. 
She waited for no introduction, but at once ap- 
proached him, calling him by name, and telling 
him she should have known him from her hus- 
band's description. After a brief tarry in 
Washington, a lion himself and introduced to 
all the lions, he departed with Lieutenant Beale 
for St. Louis, but business detained the latter 
who went later by sea; while Carson, whom 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 315 

President Polk had made a Lieutenant in the 
army, with fifty troops nnder his command to 
take through the Camanche country, again com- 
menced his journey across the prairies, having a 
battle with these Indians as was expected, for 
they were at war with the whites. 

This did not occur, however, until near the 
Hocky Mountains, near the place called " The 
Point of Rocks," on the Santa Fe trail, which 
place is regarded as one of the most dangerous 
in the New Mexican country, because affording 
shelter for ambush at a place where the travel 
has to pass a spur of rocky hills^ at whose base 
is found the water and camp-ground travelers 
seek, and where unwritten history counts many 
a battle. 

Arriving here, Carson found a company of 
United States volunteers, and went into camp 
near them. Early in the morning the animals 
of the volunteer company were captured by a 
band of Indians, while the men were taking 
them to a spot of fresh pasture. The herders 
were without arms, and in the confusion the 
cattle came into Carson's camp, who, with his 
men, were ready with their rifles, and recaptured 
the cattle from the Indians, but the horses of 
the picketing party were successfully stampeded. 



316 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Several of the thieves had been mortally 
wounded, as the signs after their departure 
showed, but the Indian custom of tying the 
wounded upon their horses, prevented taking 
the Indian's trophy of victory, the scalp, and 
the object of the Indians in their assaults. The 
success of the Arab-like Camanches is well 
illustrated by this skirmish, giving best assurance 
that Carson, who was never surprised in this 
whole journey, possessed that element of cau- 
tion so requisite in a commander in such a coun- 
try. 

Of the two soldiers whose turn it had been 
to stand guard this morning, it was found that 
one was sleeping when the alarm was given, 
and when it was reported to Carson, he at once 
administered the Chinook method of punish- 
ment — the dress of a squaw — for that day, and 
resuming his journey, arrived safely in Santa 
Fe, where he left the soldiers, and hired sixteen 
men of his o\vn choosing, to take with him the 
remainder of the journey, as he had been or- 
dered at Fort Leavenworth. To his great joy, 
his family were here to meet him, as he had 
requested. Upon Virgin River, he had to com- 
mand the obedience of Indians who came into 
his camp and left it tardily, by firing upon them. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 317 

whicli required some nerve and experience in a 
leader of so small a party, while the Indians 
numbered three hundred warrioiu They ar- 
rived at Los Angeles w^ithout further incident 
than the killing and eating of two mules, to eke 
out their scanty subsistence, in the destitution 
of game and time to hunt it ; whence Carson 
proceeded to Monterey, to deliver his despatches 
at headquarters, and returned to the duty 
assigned to him as an acting Lieutenant in the 
United States Army, in the company of drag- 
oons under Captain Smith, allowing him no time 
to recruit ; and soon he was sent with a com- 
jnand of twenty-five dragoons, to the Tejon 
Pass, to examine the papers and cai^goes of In- 
dians passing this point, the route which most 
of the Indian depredators took in passing in 
and out of California ; and here he did much 
good service during the winter. 

In the spring he again went overland to 
Washington with despatches, meeting no serious 
difficulty till he came to the Grand Eiver, where 
in the time of spring flood he was obliged to 
construct a raft, and the second load over was 
Bwamped, the men barely saving their lives, 
which rendered his party destitute of comforts 
in their onward journey, but arriving at Taos 



318 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

he stopped with, his family, and at his o^vn 
home gave his men a few days to recruit, and 
himself the luxury of intercourse with his 
family and friends, which no one enjoyed more 
than Christopher Carson. 

They had encountered several hundred In- 
dians of the Apaches and Utahs, whom Carson 
told he had nothing to give, and upon whom 
the appearance of his men gave assurance they 
would make little by attacking. At Santa Fe, 
Carson learned that his appointment as Lieu- 
tenant by the President had not been confirmed 
by the Senate, and his friends advised him not 
to carry the despatches any further ; but Car- 
son was not to be deterred from doing his duty 
because the honor he deserved was not accorded 
to him, saying that " as he had been selected 
for an important trust, he should do his best to 
fulfil it, if it cost him his life ; " and he pro- 
ceeded to Washington, feeling that if ill-nsage 
had reached him in connection with Fremont, to 
whom he had been of so much service, it was 
no more than he might have expected ; as, for 
many months past, political considerations and 
rivalries had been seen by him to govern the 
actions of certain men, instead of a care for the 
best interests of the country. He had seen men 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 319 

in command of troops in the prairies who had 
the least possible knowledge of the country, 
and especially of Indian warfare. He would 
have advised that frontier men be chosen for 
such appointments, rather than those simply 
educated in the schools and entirely unaccus- 
tomed to endure privations, but if others neg- 
lected the wiser course, that was no reason why 
he should not do his duty. 

Learning that the Camanches were upon the 
Santa Fe road, several hundred strong, he re- 
duced his escort to ten choice mountain men, 
and determined upon making a trail of his own 
returned to Taos, and struck over to the head- 
waters of the Platte, and past Fort Kearney to 
Leavenworth, where he left his escort and pro- 
ceeded alone to Washington, and delivering his 
despatches as directed, returned immediately to 
Leavenworth, and thence to Taos, where he ar- 
rived in October ; and was again at home and 
free from the burdens and responsibilities of 
public life, with the settled purpose of making 
a protracted stay, and providing himself with a 
permanent home. 

Perhaps there is no tribe of Indians besides 
the Seminoles in Florida, that have given the 
United States more trouble than the Apaches, 



320 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

in the time that we have held the claim of their 
country; and the best proof of their bravery 
may be found in the fact that the warriors 
nearly all die in battle. Living in a country as 
healthy as any in the world, and constantly 
occupied in hunting buffalo, or Mexicans and 
whites, with whom they are at war, they are 
exceedingly regardful of their national honor, 
and as their mountain retreats are almost in- 
accessible, they have the advantage of regular 
troops, and almost of old mountaineers, only as 
the latter can equal them in numbers. 

Colonel Beale was occupying this department 
at the time of which we write, and engaged in 
an effort to chastise the Apaches under Clico 
Velasquez^ their exceedingly bloodthirsty and 
cruel chief, whose habit was to adorn his dress 
with the finger bones of the victims he had 
slaughtered. Colonel Beale took charge of the 
command himself, and employed Carson as his 
guide. They crossed snow mountains to search 
for the Indians, and returning came upon a 
village, which they attacked, and captured a 
large amount of goods and two of the chiefs of 
the tribe, with whom Colonel Beale had a long 
talk, and then dismissed to return to their tribe, 
hoping thus to convince them of the magna- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. ^21 

nimity of the United States Government, when 
the command returned to Taos to recruit his 
troops. 

Meantime Carson entertained, at his own 
home in Taos, Fremont and his party of suffer- 
ing explorers, who were making a winter survey 
of a pass for a road to California, and by taking 
a difficult mountain pass, had lost all their mules 
and several of their party. Science is not all 
that is needed for such undertakings, and as 
labor and learning should act in copartnership, 
to be most effective, so theoretic and practical 
skill should be associated in any effort of dif- 
ficulty, as this trip of Colonel Fremont, without 
an experienced mountaineer for a guide, proved 
to him and his men, some of whom had fed upon 
the others who had stai'ved. 

21 



322 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER XXXI. 

In the last chapter, we left Fremont in the 
hospitable mansion of his old and tried friend 
Carson, after one of the most extraordinary 
journeys ever performed by any man who sur- 

ived to tell its horrors ; and as the names of 
Carson and Fremont are inseparably cemented ) 
in history, as in friendship, and as the former [ 

lad often endured sufferings almost as great / 
as those of his old commander and friend, we/ 
shall be pardoned if we allude to this journey 
at some length. There is no earthly doubt that 
had Carson been the guide, many valuable lives 
of noble, glorious men might have been spared, 
and sufferings on the part of those who survived 
this disastrous expedition, almost too horrible 
for belief, avoided. 

Colonel Fremont, in a letter written to his wife 
from Taos, the day after his arrival there in a 
famishing condition, and having lost one full 
third of his party by absolute starvation and 
freezing, mentions that at Pueblo he engaged 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 323 

as a guide, an old trapper of twenty-five years' 
experience, named " Bill Williams," and he 
frankly admits tliat the '' error of his journey 
was committed in engaging this man." 

In narrating some of the incidents of this 
terribly disastrous journey, we shall use, of 
course, the language of those best qualified to 
depict its horrors, ^. ^., Colonel Fremont, and 
Mr. Carvalho, a gentleman of Baltimore, who 
accompanied the expedition as daguerreotypist 
and artist. "^ 

Colonel Fremont, in his letter to his wife, 
treats of the subject generally, but whfe we 
quote from the narrative of Mr. Carvalho, we 
think our readers will admit that such a record 
of human suffering, and human endurance, 
added to such an exhibition of moral and physi- 
cal courage, has never been paralleled. 

Colonel Fremont writes (speaking first of 
"Williams the guide) : 

" He proved never to have in the least 
known, or entirely to have forgotten, the whole 
region of countiy through which we were 
to pass. We occupied more than half a month 
in making the journey of a few days, blunder- 
ing a tortuous way through deep snow which 
already began to ch.oke up the passes, for 



324 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

which we were obliged to waste time in search- 
ing. About the 11th December we found 
ourselves at the North of the Del Norte Canon, 
where that river issues from the St. John's 
Mountain, one of the highest, most rugged 
and impracticable of all the Rocky Mountain 
ranges, inaccessible to trappers and hunters 
even in the summer time. 

" Across the point of this elevated range our 
guide conducted us, and having still great con- 
fidence in his knowledge, we pressed onwards 
with fatal resolution. Even along the river 
bottoms the snow was already belly deep for 
the mules, frequently snowing in the valley 
and almost constantly in the mountains. The 
cold was extraordinary ; at the warmest hours 
of the day (between one and two) the ther- 
mometer (Fahrenheit) standing in the shade 
of only a tree trunk at zero ; the day sunshiny, 
with a moderate breeze. We pressed up 
towards the summit, the snow deepening ; and 
in four or ^ve days we reached the naked 
ridges which lie above the timbered country, 
and which form the dividing grounds between 
the waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. 

" Along these naked ridges it storms nearly 
all winter, and the winds sweep across them 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 325 

with remorseless fury. On our first attempt 
to cross we encountered a pouderie (dry snow 
driven thick through the air by violent wind, 
and in which objects are visible only at a short 
distance), and were driven back, having some 
ten or twelve men variously frozen, face, hands, 
or feet. The guide became nigh being frozen 
to death here, and dead mules were already 
lying about the fires. Meantime, it snowed 
steadily. The next day we made mauls, and 
beating a road or trench through the snow 
crossed the crest in defiance of the pouderie 
and encamped immediately below in the edge 
of the timber. 

" Westward, the country was buried in deep 
snow. It was impossible to advance, and to 
turn back was equally impracticable. We 
were overtaken by sudden and inevitable ruin 
and it was instantly apparent that we should 
lose every animal. 

" I determined to recross the mountain more 
towards the open country, and haul or pack 
the baggage (by men) down to the Del Norte. 
With great labor the baggage was transported 
across the crest to the head springs of a little 
stream leading to the main river. A few days 
were sufficient to destroy our fine band of mules. 



326 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

They generally kept huddled together, and as 
they froze, one would be seen to tumble down, 
and the snow would cover him ; some times 
they would break off and inish down towards 
the timber until they were stopped by the 
deep snow, where they were soon hidden by 
the poudeine. 

*''' The courage of the men failed fast ; in fact, 
I have never seen men so soon discouraged by 
misfortune as we were on this occasion ; but, 
as you know, the party was not constituted 
like the former ones. But among those who 
deserve to be honorably mentioned, and who 
behaved like what they were — men of the old 
exploring party, — were Grodey, King, and Tap- 
lin ; and first of all Godey. 

"In this situation, I detemiined to send in 
a party to the Spanish settlements of New 
Mexico for provisions and mules to transport 
our baggage to Taos. With economy, and 
after we should leave the mules, we had not 
two weeks' provisions in the camp. These 
consisted of a store which I had reserved for a 
hard day, macaroni and bacon. From among 
the volunteers I chose King, Brackenridge, 
Creutzf eldt, and the guide Williams ; the party 
under the command of King. In case of the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 327 

least delay at the settlements, he was to send 
me an express. 

Day after day passed by, and no news from 
our express party. Snow continued to fall 
almost incessantly on the mountain. The 
spirits of the camp grew lower. Prone laid 
down in the trail and froze to death. In a sun- 
shiny day, and having with him means to make 
a fire, he threw his blankets do^vn in the trail 
and laid there till he froze to death. After 
sixteen days had elapsed from King's depar- 
ture, I became so uneasy at the delay that I 
decided to wait no longer. I was aware that 
our troops had been engaged in hostilities with 
the Spanish Utahs and Apaches, who range in 
the North Eiver valley, and became fearful 
that they (King's party) had been cut off by 
these Indians ; I could imagine no other acci- 
dent. Leaving the camp employed with the 
baggage and in charge of Mr. Vincenthaler, I 
started down the river with a small party con- 
sisting of Godey (with his young nephew), Mr. 
Preuss and Saunders. We carried our arms 
and provision for two or three days. In the 
camp the messes had provisions for two or 
three meals, more or less ; and about ^ve 
pounds of sugar to each man. Failing to meet 



328 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

King, my intention was to make the Red River 
settlement about twenty-five miles north of 
Taos, and send back the speediest relief possi- 
ble. My instructions to the camp were, that 
if they did not hear from me within a stated 
time, they were to follow down the Del 
Norte. 

'' About sunset on the sixth day, we discov- 
ered a little smoke, in a grove of timber off 
from the river, and thinking perhaps it might 
be our express party on its return, we went to 
see. This was the twenty -second day since they 
had left us, and the sixth since we had left the 
camp. We found them — three of them — 
Creutzfeldt, Brackenridge, and Williams — the 
most miserable objects I have ever seen. I did 
not recognize Creutzfeldt's features when Brack- 
enridge brought him up to me and mentioned 
his name. They had been starving. King had 
starved to death a few days before. His re- 
mains were some six or eight miles above, near 
the river. By aid of the horses, we carried these 
three men with us to Red River settlement, 
which we reached (Jan. 20), on the tenth even- 
ing after leaving our camp in the mountains, 
having traveled through snow and on foot one 
hundred and sixty miles. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 329 

" The morning after reaching the Eed Eiver 
town, Godey and myself rode on to the Rio 
Hondo and Taos, in search of animals and 
supplies, and on the second evening after that 
on which we had reached Red River, Grodey 
had returned to that place with about thirty 
animals, provisions, and four Mexicans, with 
which he set out for the camp on the following 
morning. 

" You will remember that I had left the 
camp with occupation sufficient to employ them 
for three or four days, after which they were 
to follow me down the river. Within that time 
I had expected the relief from King, if it was 
to come at all. 

" They remained where I had left them seven 
days, and then started down the river. Manuel 
— you will remember Manuel, the Cosumne 
Indian — gave way to a feeling of despair after 
they had traveled about two miles, begged 
Haler to shoot him, and then turned and made 
his way back to the camp ; intending to die 
there, as he doubtless soon did. They followed 
our trail down the river — twenty-two men they 
were in all. About ten miles below the camp, 
Wise gave out, threw away his gun and 
blanket, and a few hundred yards further fell 



330 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

over into the snow and died. Two Indian 
boys, young men, countrymen of Manuel, were 
behind. They rolled up Wise in his blanket, 
and buried him in the snow on the river 
bank. No more died that day — none the 
next. Carver raved during the night, his im- 
agination wholly occupied with images of many 
things which he fancied himself eating. In 
the morning, he wandered off from the party, 
and probably soon died. They did not see him 
again. 

" Sorel on this day gave out, and laid down 
to die. They built him a fire, and Morin, who 
was in a dying condition, and snow-blind, re- 
mained. These two did not probably last till 
the next morning. That evening, I think, Hub- 
bard killed a deer. They traveled on, getting 
here and there a grouse, but probably nothing 
else, the snow having frightened off the game. 
Things were desperate, and brought Haler to 
the determination of breaking up the pai*ty, in 
order to prevent them from living upon each 
other. He told them ' that he had done all he 
could for them, that they had no other hope 
remaining than the expected relief, and that 
their best plan was to scatter and make the best 
of their way in small parties down the river. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 331 

That, for his part, if lie was to be eaten, he 
would, at all events, be found traveling when 
he did die.' Thej accordingly separated. 

" With Mr. Haler continued five others and 
the two Indian boys. Rohrer now became 
very despondent ; Haler encouraged him by 
recalling to mind his family, and urged him to 
hold out a little longer. On this day he fell 
behind, but promised to overtake them at 
evening. Haler, Scott, Hubbard, and Martin 
agreed that if any one of them should give 
out, the others were not to wait for him to die, 
but build a fire for him, and push on. At 
night, Kern's mess encamped a few hundred 
yai'ds from Haler's, with the intention, accord- 
ing to Taplin, to remain where they were until 
the relief should come, and in the meantime to 
live upon those who had died, and upon the 
weaker ones as they should die. With the 
three Kerns were Cathcart, Andrews, McKie, 
Stepperfeldt, and Taplin. 

"Ferguson and Beadle had remained to- 
gether behind. In the evening, Rohrer came 
up and remained with Kern's mess. Mr. Haler 
learned afterwards from that mess that Rohrer 
and Andrews wandered oif the next day and 
died. They say they saw their bodies. In the 



332 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

morning Haler's party continued on. After a 
few liours, Hubbard gave out. They built him 
a fire, gathered liim some wood, and left him 
without, as Haler says, turning their heads to 
look at him as they went off. About two miles 
further, Scott — you remember Scott — who used 
to shoot birds for you at the frontier — gave out. 
They did the same for him as for Hubbard, and 
continued on. In the afternoon, the Indian boys 
went ahead, and before nightfall met Godey 
with the relief. Haler heard and knew the guns 
which he fired for him at night, and starting 
early in the morning, soon met him. I heard 
that they all cried together like children. Haler 
turned back with Godey, and went with him to 
where they had left Scott. He was still alive, 
and was saved. Hubbard was dead — still warm. 
From Kern's mess they learned the death of An- 
drews and Rohrer, and a little above, met Fer- 
guson, who told them that Beadle had died the 
night before." 

Such is the portion of the brief, but thrilling, 
narrative of this extraordinary and disastrous 
journey, as detailed in a familiar letter by Col- 
onel Fremont to his wife ; but Mr. Carvalho 
gives in detail some of the particulars of the 
horrors which overtook them, all through the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 333 

unfortunate error of engaging as guide a man 
who either knew nothing, or had forgotten all 
he had ever known, of the localities which the 
party designed and hoped to reach. 



334 LIFE OF KIT CARSON, 



CHAPTER XXXII. 

We quote now from the closing part of Mr. 
Garvalho's narrative : 

" At last we are drawn to the necessity of kill- 
ing our brave horses for food. To-day the first 
sacrifice was made. It was with us all a solemn 
event, rendered far more solemn however by the 
impressive scene which followed. Colonel l^Ve- 
mont came out to us, and after referring to the 
dreadful necessities to which his men had been 
reduced on a previous expedition, of eating each 
other, he begged us to swear that in no extrem- 
ity of hunger Avould any of his men lift his hand 
against, or attempt to prey upon, a comrade ; 
sooner let him die with them than live upon 
them. They all promptly took the oath, and 
threatened to shoot the first one that hinted or 
proposed such a thing. 

" It was a most impressive scene, to witness 
twenty-two men on a snowy mountain, with 
bare heads, and hands and eyes upraised to 
heaven, uttering the solemn vow, ' So help m« 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 335 

God ! ' — and tlie valley echoed, * So help me 
God ! ' I never, until that moment, realized the 
awful situation in which I was placed. I re- 
membered the words of the Psalmist, and felt 
perfectly assured of my final safety. They 
wandered in tJie wilderness in a solitary tvay ; 
they found no city to dwell in. Hungry and 
tliirsty their soul fainteth loitliin tliem^ and tliey 
cried unto the Lord in their trouble.^ and he deliv- 
ered them out of their distresses, 

***** 

" When an animal gave out, he was shot down 
by the Indians, who immediately cut his throat, 
and saved all the blood in our camp kettle. 
This animal was divided into twenty-two-parts. 
Two parts for Colonel Fremont and his cook, 
ten parts for the white camp, and ten parts for 
the Indians. Colonel Fremont hitherto messed 
with his officers ; at this time he requested that 
they would excuse him, as it gave him pain, and 
called to mind the horrible scenes which had 
been enacted during his last expedition — he 
could not see his officers obliged to partake of 
such disgusting food. 

" The rule he adopted was that one animal 
should serve for six meals for the whole party. 
If one gave out in the meantime, of course it 



336 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

was an exception ; but otlier^vise, on no con- 
sideration was an animal to be slauglitered, for 
every one that was killed, placed a man on foot, 
and limited our chances of escape from our pres- 
ent situation. If the men chose to eat up their 
six meals all in one day, they would have to go 
without until the time arrived for killing an- 
other. It frequently happened that the white 
camp was without food from twenty-four to 
thirty-six hours, while Colonel Fremont and the 
Dela wares always had a meal. The latter re- 
ligiously abstained from encroaching on the 
portion allotted for another meal, while many 
men of our camp, I may say all of them, not 
content with their portion, would, to satisfy the 
cravings of hunger, surreptitiously purloin from 
their pile of meat, at different times, sundry 
pieces, thus depriving themselves of each other's 
allowance. My own sense of right was so sub- 
dued by the sufferings I endured by hunger, 
and walking almost barefooted through the 
snow, that while going to guard one night, I 
stole a piece of frozen horse liver, ate it raw, 
and thought it, at the time, the most delicious 
morsel I ever tasted. 

" The entrails of the horse were ' well shaken ' 
(for we had no water to wash them in) and 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 337 

boiled with snow, producing a highly flavored 
soup, which the men considered so valuable and 
delicious that they forbade the cook to skim the 
pot for fear any portion of it might be lost. 
The hide was divided into equal portions, and 
with the bones roasted and burnt to a crisp. 
This we munched on the road ; but the men 
not being satisfied with the division of the meat 
by the cook, made him turn his back, while 
another took up each share separately, and in- 
quired who should have it. When the snows 
admitted it, we collected the thick leaves of a 
species of cactus which we also put in the fire 
to burn off the prickles, and ate. It then re- 
sembled in taste and nourishment an Irish potato 
peeling. We lived in this way for nearly fifty 
days, traveling from Grand E-iver across the 
divide to Green River, and over the fil'st range 
of the Wahsach Mountains, on foot, Colonel Fre- 
mont at our head, tramping a pathway for his 
men to follow. He, as well as the rest of the 
party, towards the last was entirely barefoot — 
some of them had a piece of raw hide on their 
feet, which, however, becoming hard and stiff 
by the frost, made them more uncomfortable 
than walking without any. 

" Yesterday, Mr. Oliver Fuller, of St. Louis, 



22 



338 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

who had been on foot for some weeks, suddenly 
gave out. Our engineers and myself were with 
him. He found himself unable to proceed — 
the snow was very deep, and his feet were 
badly frozen. He insisted that we should leave 
him, and hasten to camp for relief ; not being 
able to render him any assistance by remain- 
ing, we wrapped his blankets around him and 
left him on the trail. In vain we searched for 
material to build him a fire — nothing was 
visible but a wild waste of snow ; we were also 
badly crippled, and we did not arrive in camp 
until ten o'clock at night, at which time it began 
snowing furiously. We told Colonel Fremont of 
Mr. Fuller's situation, when he sent a Mexican 
named Frank, Avith the two best animals and 
cooked horsemeat, to bring Mr. Fuller in. There 
was not a dry eye in the whole camp that 
night — the men sat up anxiously awaiting the 
return of our companions. 

" At daylight, they being still out, Colonel 
Fremont sent three Delawares, mounted, to look 
for them. About ten o'clock one of them re- 
turned with the Mexican and two mules. Frank 
was badly frozen, he had lost the track, and be- 
wildered and cold, he sank down holding on to 
the animals, where he was found by the Dela- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 339 

ware during the afternoon. The two Delawares 
supporting Mr. Fuller were seen approaching. 
He was found awake, but almost dead from the 
cold and faintness. Colonel Fremont personally 
rendered him all the assistance in his power. 
So did all of us — for he was beloved and re- 
spected by the whole camp for his gentlemanly 
behavior and his many virtues. Colonel Fremont 
remained at this dreary place near three days, 
to allow poor Fuller time to recruit — and after- 
wards assigned to him the best mule to carry 
him, while two of the men walked on either 
side to support him. A portion of our scanty 
food was appropriated at every meal from each 
man's portion to make Mr. Fuller's larger, as he 
required sustenance more than they did. 

''On the 7th February, almost in sight of 
succor, the Almighty took him to himself: 
he died on horseback — his two companions 
wrapped him in his India rubber blanket and 
laid him across the trail. We arrived next day 
at Parawan. After the men had rested a little, 
we went, in company with three or four of the 
inhabitants of Parawan, to bury our deceased 
friend. His remains had not been disturbed 
during our absence." 

In the month of February, and soon after 



340 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

Fremont's arrival and departure, Colonel Beale 
again solicited Carson to be his guide while 
he paid a visit to a large village of Indians con- 
gregated on the Arkansas, for the purpose of 
carrying out a stipulation of the treaty with 
Mexico, that the captives the Indians retained 
in the territory ceded to the United States 
should be returned to Mexico. He found four 
tribes congregated, to the number of two thou- 
sand, for the purpose of meeting their agent, an 
experienced mountaineer, w ho informed Colonel 
Beale that it would be useless to attempt to en- 
force the provisions of the treaty here, especially 
when so many Indians were together, and suc- 
ceeded in persuading him to desist from the 
u^e of force against them. 

These Indians had been accustomed to deal- 
ing with poorly clad Mexican soldiers, and the 
sight and bearing of Colonel Beale and Carson 
and the men under their command, must have in- 
duced a respect for the government they repre- 
sented, so that they did not consider the expe- 
dition as without good result. 

The Camanche Indians could not well have 
been induced to fulfil the provisions of the 
treaty with Mexico, especially as they were not 
a party to it, for in the very many years past, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 34l 

it had been their custom to make incursions 
upon the Mexican settlements and parties of 
travelers, and to capture their cattle and take 
their goods, besides bringing away as many 
children as possible, in order that the girls pro- 
cured in this way should, when grown, marry 
the braves of the tribe ; till now at least a third 
of the blood of the tribe was Mexican. This 
amalgamation had become more extensive in 
this than in any of the other New Mexican 
tribes. 

The Apache is smaller in stature and more 
closely built than the Camanche ; less skilled in 
horsemanship, but equally brave, with beauti- 
ful symmetry of form, and " muscles as hard as 
iron," with an elasticity of movement that 
shows a great amount of physical training, and 
an eye that reveals the treachery of their char- 
acter. 



342 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 



CHAPTER XXXm. 

ARRiviNa again in Taos, to carry into effect 
at once, tlie resolution he had formed of estab- 
lishing for himself a permanent home, he joined 
his old friend Maxwell in the purpose of occu- 
pying a beautifully romantic mountain valley, 
fifty miles east of Taos, called by the Indians 
Rayedo, which would long since have been set- 
tled by the Mexicans, only it was very much 
exposed to Indian depredations. 

Through the center of this valley flows a 
broad mountain stream, and, for the loveliness 
of the scenery, or the fertility of its broad, 
sloping basin, or the mountain supply of tim- 
ber, there can scarcely be found a spot to 
equal it. Carson and Maxwell established a 
settlement about mid-way in the valley ; and at 
the present date, have an imposing little vil- 
lage, in which the houses of Carson and Max- 
well are prominent by reason of their greater 
dimensions, and indicate to the trader a style 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 343 

of plenteous comfort, which, while it might of- 
fend the pale-faced denizen of our most fash- 
ionable thoroughfares, the traveler, who has 
learned to love nature and health, gazes upon 
with pleasure, and gladly tarries to enjoy the 
patriarchal hospitality, and the sumptuous, al- 
most regal luxury of their hunter occupants, 
who " count their horses and their cattle by the 
hundreds," and whose thousand sheep are on 
the hills ; whose larder is replenished from the 
still countless herds of prairie oxen which roam 
through those magnificent plains, and the lesser 
bands of speed-defying, beauteous quadrupeds 
of the hills, and the fleet climbers of the rocks 
and big-horned mountain cliffs, and the flocks 
that build their eyrie in their crags, all of which 
are occupants of the sheep-pastures of these 
chevaliers of the wilderness, and in whose court- 
yards may be seen specimens of this game, of 
which they are not ashamed ; for a young Car- 
son has lassoed a little grizzly, while antelope 
and young fawn feed from his sister's fingers. 

Here too the Indian braves fear not to come 
and call the master of the mansion. Father, — 
" Father Kit," is his long time appellation — 
and they have learned to look on him and his, 
with all that reverence and fondness with 



34:4 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

which grateful children look upon a worthy 
sire. 

Carson cannot tarry at his pleasant home, 
much more than to care for its necessary super- 
intendence, for his life is the propei-ty of the 
public ; and to the quiet settlement of the In- 
dians into the condition which is happiest for 
them, so far as it can be secured in the condi- 
tion of the country and their own habitudes, is 
the work to which he has wisely devoted him- 
self. He has given to the Indians the best 
years of his ever busy life, and gives them 
still, neglectful of immediate personal comfort 
— or rather finding highest satisfaction in doing 
what is fittest he should do, because it is the 
work in which he can accomplish the most 
good. 

In the vicinity of the home of Carson, and 
that of his friend Maxwell, are gathered a 
number of their old comrades — men of the 
mountains, who have survived the multitudi- 
nous and conflicting events which have come 
over the spirit of the Yankee, and the activities 
of the Yankee nations, since the business of 
trapping first became for her hardy sons a lu- 
crative employment ; and here, in the society of 
each other, and the conscious security of pro- 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 345 

tection for each other, in a locality congenial to 
their tastes, with occasional old time occupa- 
tions, and where the rivalries of their predi- 
lections can be still indulged, and quietly main- 
tained, they are ever ready after every test to 
concede to Christopher Carson the palm of be- 
ing first as a hunter, first as an experienced 
traveler and guide through the mountain coun- 
try, whether it be by a route he has, or one he 
has never before traveled. 

The stories of his exploits in defense of his 
neighbors and friends, and to recover from the 
Indians property they had stolen, since he left 
the service of the Army of the United States, 
would of themselves fill a volume, and we have 
space to allude to but a very few. 

A Mrs. White, the wife of a merchant of 
Santa Fe, had been taken captive with her 
child, (which was soon killed before her eyes), 
by a party of Apaches, who had shot her hus- 
band, and all the men of his company, before 
capturing her. A party of New Mexicans was 
at once organized to pursue the Indian band, 
and effect Mrs. White's release if possible. 
The guidance of this party was entrusted to 
a neighbor by the name of Watkins Leroux, 
rather than to Carson. They found the Apache 



346 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

murderers, and Carson was advancing fore- 
most to attack them, when lie discovered that 
the rest of the party were not following ; con- 
sequently he had to retire, and w^hen the com- 
mander ordered the attack to be made, it was 
too late, for the Indians had murdered Mrs. 
White and were preparing to escape by flight. 
Carson tells this story with all the generous 
magnanimity a great soul exercises in speaking 
of a failure on the part of a rival ; admitting 
that, if his advice had been followed, they 
might have saved Mrs. White, but affirming 
that the command " did what seemed to it the 
best, and therefore no one has any right to find 
fault." 

This occurred in the autumn of eighteen hun- 
dred and forty -nine, directly after the commence- 
ment of the settlement of E-ayedo. 

Near the close of the following winter, all 
the animals belonging to the party of ten drag- 
oons which had been stationed there to pro- 
tect the settlement, were run off by the ma- 
rauding Apaches, and the two herders having 
them in charge, were wounded. Early the fol- 
lowing morning, Carson and three of the set- 
tlers with the ten dragoons, started in pursuit, 
discovered the Indians — twenty Avell armed 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 34Y 

warriors — and four of the party being obliged 
to stop, because their animals had given out, 
the remaining ten rode down the Indians, who 
might themselves have escaped but for their 
persistence in retaining the stolen horses, which 
were all recaptured except four, while five of 
the warriors were killed, and several more 
wounded. This expedition was planned and 
executed under the direction of Carson, and the 
fact that he was their leader gave every man 
confidence, as they knew that with him an en- 
gagement implied success or death. 

The next spring Carson went to Fort Laramie 
with a drove of horses and mules, making the 
journey successfully and pleasantly in company 
with Timothy Goodell, another old mountaineer, 
being the observed of all observers to the large 
numbei-s of overland emigrants to California 
whom he met at the fort, where Goodell left 
him to go to California. 

Carson found a Mexican to attend him upon 
his return, and taking a circuitous course, he 
managed to avoid the Apaches ; often traveling 
by moonlight, and taking their animals into a 
quiet nook, and climbing a tree for a little sleep 
during the day, they finally reached the Mexican 
settlements in safety. 



348 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

The days of the following summer winged 
their happy flight with great rapidity, while 
Carson was directing and aiding in his farm- 
ing, and, of course, pursuing his favorite em- 
ployment of hunting, ever returning from a 
hunt with his horse laden with deer or ante- 
lope, wild turkey and ducks, or perhaps a half 
score or more of prairie chickens, to complete 
the list. Only once was his work interrupted 
by the harsher business of chastising oifenders 
against justice, and this time the guilty parties 
were two white men. 

A party of desperadoes, so frequently the 
nuisance of a new country, had formed a plot 
to murder and rob two wealthy citizens, whom 
they had volunteered to accompany to the set- 
tlements in the States, and were already many 
miles on their way, when Carson was informed 
of the nefarious design. In one hour he had 
organized a party, and was on his way in quick 
pursuit, taking a more direct route to intercept 
the party, and endeavoring at the same time to 
avoid the vicinity of the Indians, who were 
now especially hostile, but of whose move- 
ments Carson was as well informed as any one 
could be. In two days out from Taos, they 
came upon a camp of United States recruits^ 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 349 

whose officer volunteered to accompany him 
with twenty men, which offer was accepted, 
and by forced marches they soon overtook the 
party of traders, and at once arrested Fox, the 
leader of the wretches, and then proceeded to 
inform Messrs. Brevoort and Weatherhead of 
the danger which they had escaped ; and they, 
though at first astounded by the disclosure, had 
noticed many things to convince them that the 
plot would soon have been put in execution. 

Taking the members of their party whom 
they knew were trusty, they at once ordered 
the rest, thirty-five in number, to leave imme- 
diately, except Fox, who remained in charge of 
Carson, to whom the traders were abundant in 
their thanks for his timely interference in their 
behalf, and who refused every offer of recom- 
pense. 

Fox was taken to Taos, and imprisoned for 
a number of months ; but as a crime only in 
intent was difficult to be proved, and the adobe 
walls of their houses were not secure enough 
to retain one who cared to release himself. Fox 
was at last liberated, and went to parts unknown. 

On the return of Messrs. Brevoort and 
Weatherhead from St. Louis, they presented 
Carson with a magnificent pair of pistols, upon 



350 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

whose silver mounting were inscribed such 
words as would laconically illustrate his noble 
deed, and the appreciation of the donors of the 
great service rendered. 

The summer following was consumed in an 
excursion for trade, on behalf of himself and 
Maxwell, and a visit to the home of his daugh- 
ter, now married in St. Louis ; and which was 
prosecuted without incident worthy of note, 
until he came to a Cheyenne village on the 
Arkansas, upon his return. This \dJlage had 
received an affront from the officer of a party 
of United States troops bound to New Mexico, 
who had whipped one of their chiefs, some ten 
days before the arrival of Carson ; and to have 
revenge upon some one of the whites, was now 
the passion of the whole tribe. 

The conduct of this officer is only a specimen 
of that which thousands have exercised toward 
the Indians of the different tribes; and the 
result is the same in all cases. Carson's was 
the first party to pass the Indian village after 
this insult ; and so many years had elapsed 
since he was a hunter at Bent's Fort, and so 
much had this nation been stirred by their 
numberless grievances, that Carson's name was 
no longer a talisman of safety to his party, nor 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 351 

even of respect to himself, in their then state of 
excitement ; and as Carson went deliberately 
into the war council, which the Indians were 
holding on the discovery of his party, having 
ordered his men to keep their force close to- 
gether, the Indians supposing he could not 
understand them, continued to talk freely of 
the manner of capturing the eifects, and killing 
the whole party, and especially himself, whom 
they at once concluded was the leader. When 
Kit had heard all their plans, he coolly ad- 
dressed them in the Cheyenne language, telling 
them who he was, his former association with 
and kindness to their tribe ; and that now, he 
should be glad to render them any assistance 
they might need ; but as to their having his 
scalp, he should claim the right of saying a 
word. The Indians departed, and Carson went 
on his way ; but there were hundreds of the 
Cheyennes in sight upon the hills, and though 
they made no attack, Carson knew he was in 
their power, nor had they given up the idea of 
taking his train. His cool deliberation kept 
his men in spirits, and yet, except upon two 
or three of the whole fifteen, he could place 
no reliance in an emergency. At night the men 
and mules were all brought within the circle 



352 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

of wagons, grass was cut with their sheath 
knives, and brought into the mules, and as 
large a guard was placed as possible. When 
all w^as quiet, Carson called outside the camp 
with him a Mexican boy of the l^arty, and ex- 
plaining to him the danger which threatened 
them, told him it was in his power to save the 
lives of the company, and giving him instruc- 
tions how to proceed, sent him on alone to 
Rayedo, a journey of nearly three hundred 
miles, to ask an escort of United States troops 
to be sent out to meet him, telling the brave 
young Mexican to " put a good many miles 
between him and the camp before morning ; " 
and so he started him, vrith a few rations of 
provisions, without telling the rest of the party 
that such a step was necessary. This bo}^ had 
long been in Carson's service, and was well 
known to him as faithful and active, so that he 
had no doubts as to the faithful execution of 
the trust confided to him ; and in a mid coun- 
try like New Mexico, with the outdoor life 
and habits of its people, a jom'ney like the one 
on which he was despatched, was not an unusual 
occurrence : indeed, in that country, parties on 
foot often accompany those on horse, for days 
together, and do not seem to feel the fatigue. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. ^5^ 

Carson now returned to tlie camp to watch all 
night himself ; and at break of day they were 
again upon the road. No Indians appeared un- 
til nearly noon, when five warriors came gallop- 
ing toward them. As they came near enough 
to hear him, Carson ordered them to halt, and 
approaching, told them that the night before, 
he had sent a messenger to Rayedo, to inform 
the troops that their tribe were annoying him ; 
and if he or his men were molested, terrible 
punishment would be inflicted by those who 
would surely come to his relief. The Indians 
replied, that they would look for the moccasin 
tracks, which they probably found, and Carson 
considered this the reason that induced the 
whole village to pass away toward the hills 
after a little time, evidently seeking a place of 
safety. The young Mexican overtook the party 
of troops whose officer had caused the trouble, 
to whom he told his story, and failing to secure 
sympathy, he continued to Rayedo, and pro- 
cured thence immediate assistance. Major Grier 
despatched a party of troops, under Lieutenant 
R. Johnston, which, making rapid marches, met 
Carson twenty -five miles below Bent's Fort ; 
and, though they encountered no Indians, the 
effect of the quick transit of troops from one 
23 



354 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

part of the country to another, could not be 
other than good, as a means of impressing the 
Indians with the effective force of the United 
States troops. 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 355 



CHAPTER XXXIV. 

Eighteen years had elapsed, full of eventful 
history — especially the last ten — since Carson 
had renounced the business of trapping, and 
of late there had been an almost irrepressible 
longing once more to try his skill at his old 
employment, in company with others who had 
been, with himself, adepts at the business. 
Accordingly he and Maxwell, by a great effort, 
succeeded in collecting sixteen more of their 
old companions, and taking care to provide 
themselves abundantly with all the necessaries 
for such a service, and with such added articles 
of comfort as the pleasurable character of the 
excursion dictated, they started, with Carson at 
the head of the band, " any one of whom would 
have periled his life for any other, and having 
voted that the expedition should be one for hard 
work, as when they trapped for gain long ago," 
they dashed on across the plains, till they came 
to the South Platte, and upon its well remem- 
bered waters, formed their camp and set their 



356 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

traps, having first apprised themselves, by the 
" signs," that the beaver were abundant. In- 
deed, so long ago had trapping gone into disuse, 
that the hunt proved successful beyond their 
anticipations, and they worked down this 
stream, through the Laramie plains to the New 
Park, on to the Old Park, and upon a large 
number of the streams, their old resorts, and re- 
turned to Rayedo with a large stock of furs, 
having enlivened the time by the recital to each 
other of many of the numberless entertaining 
events which had crowded upon their lives 
while they had been separated. 

Would not the reader like to have made this 
excursion with them, and witnessed the infinite 
zest with which these mature and experienced 
men entered again upon what seemed now to 
them the sport of their earlier years ? They 
made it, as much as possible, a season of enjoy- 
ment. One of the party had lassoed a grizzly, 
but, finding it inconvenient to retain him, he 
had been shot, and bear steaks, again enjoyed 
together, had been a part of the Fourth of July 
treat they afforded their visitors, the Sioux In- 
dians. As we have but little further oppor- 
tunity, we will quote Fremont's description of 
the Mountain Parks, for the sake of giving the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 357 

reader an idea of the locality of this last trap- 
ping enterprise of Kit Carson : 

'' Our course in the afternoon brought us to 
the main Platte River, here a handsome stream, 
with a uniform breadth of seventy yards, ex- 
cept where widened by frequent islands. It 
was apparently deep, with a moderate current, 
and wooded with groves of large willow. 

" The valley narrowed as we ascended, and 
presently degenerated into a gorge, through 
which the river passed as through a gate. We 
entered it, and found ourselves in the New 
Park — a beautiful circular valley of thirty miles 
diameter, walled in all round with snowy moun- 
tains, rich with water and with grass, fringed 
wdth pine on the mountain sides below the snow 
line, and a paradise to all grazing animals. 
The Indian name for it signifies " cow lodge^'* of 
which our own may be considered a transla- 
tion ; the enclosure, the grass, the water, and the 
herds of buffalo roaming over it, naturally pre- 
senting the idea of a park, 7,720 feet above tide 
water. 

" It is from this elevated cove^ and from the 
gorges of the surrounding mountains, and some 
lakes within their bosoms, that the Great Platte 
River collects its first waters, and assumes its 



358 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

first form ; and certainly no river has a more 
beautiful origin. 

" Descending from the pass, we found our- 
selves again on the western waters ; and halted 
to noon on the edge of another mountain val- 
ley, called the Old Park, in which is formed 
Grand River, one of the principal branches of 
the Colorado of California. We were now 
moving with some caution, as, from the trail, 
we found the Arapahoe village had also passed 
this way. As we were coming out of their 
enemy's country, and this was a war ground, 
we were desirous to avoid them. After a long 
afternoon's march, we halted at night on a 
small creek, tributary to a main fork of Grand 
River, which ran through this portion of the 
valley. The appearance of the country in the 
Old Park is interesting, though of a different 
character from the New ; instead of being a 
comparative plain, it is more or less broken in- 
to hills, and surrounded by the high mountains, 
timbered on the lower parts with quaking asp 
and pines. 

"We entered the Bayou Salada, (South 
Park,) and immediately below us was a green 
valley, through which ran a stream ; and a 
short distance opposite rose snowy mountains, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 359 

whose summits were formed into peaks of 
naked rock. 

^' On tke following day we descended the 
stream by an excellent buffalo trail, along the 
open grassy bottom of the river. On our 
right, the bayou was bordered by a mountainous 
range, crested with rocky and naked peaks; 
and below it had a beautiful park-like charac- 
ter of pretty level prairies, interspersed among 
low spurs, wooded openly with pine and quak- 
ing asp, contrasting well with the denser pines 
which swept around on the mountain sides. 

"During the afternoon, Pike's Peak had been 
plainly in view before us. 

" The next day we left the river, which con- 
tinued its course towards Pike's Peak ; and 
taking a southeasterly direction, in about ten 
miles we crossed a gentle ridge, and, issuing 
from the South Park, found ourselves involved 
among the broken spurs of the mountains which 
border the great prairie plains. Although 
broken and extremely rugged, the countiy was 
very interesting, being well watered by numer- 
ous affluents to the Arkansas River, and cov- 
ered with grass and a variety of trees." 

Carson had disposed of his furs, and was 
again quietly attending to his ranche, when he 



360 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

heard of the exorbitant prices for which sheep 
were selling in California, and determined to 
enter upon a speculation. lie had already vis- 
ited the Navajos Indians, and thither he went 
again, and in company with Maxwell and an- 
other mountaineer, purchased several thousand 
sheep ; and with a suitable company of trusty 
men as shepherds, took thera to Fort Laramie, 
and thence by the regular emigrant route, past 
Salt Lake to California, and arriving without 
any disaster, disposed of them in one of the 
frontier towns, and then went down to the Sac- 
ramento valley, to witness the change which 
had come over old familiar places ; not that 
the mining did not interest him ; he had seen 
that before in Mexico, but he had not seen the 
cities which had sprung into existence at a 
hundred points, in the foot-hills of the Sierras, 
nor had he seen San Francisco, that city of 
wondrous growth, which now contained thirty- 
five thousand inhabitants. 

But for the remembrance of the hills on 
which the city rested, Carson would not have 
known the metropolis of California, as the spot 
where in '48 " the people could be counted in an 
hour." In San Francisco he met so many old 
friends, and so many, who, knowing him from 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 361 

the history of his deeds, desired to do him 
honor, that the attentions he received, while it 
gratified his ambition, were almost annoying. 

Tired by the anxiety and hard work of bring- 
ing his property over a long and dangerous jour- 
ney to a good market, he had looked for rest 
and retirement ; but instead, he was everywhere 
sought out and made conspicuous. 

He found himself surrounded with the choice 
spirits of the new El Dorado ; his name a pres- 
tige of strength and position, and his society 
courted by everybody. The siren voice of 
pleasure failed not to speak in his ear her most 
flattering invitations. Good-fellowship took 
him incessantly by the hand, desiring to lead 
him into the paths of dissipation. But the gay 
vortex, with all its brilliancy, had no attractions 
for him ; the wine cup, with its sparkling ar- 
guments, failed to convince his calm earnestness 
of character, that his simple habits of life needed 
remodeling. To the storm, however, he was ex- 
posed ; but, like a good ship during the gale, 
he weathered the fierce blast, and finally took 
his departure from the new city of a day, with 
his character untarnished, but nevertheless leav- 
ing behind him many golden opinions. 

Some newspaper scribbler, last autumn, an- 



362 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

nounced the death of Carson, and said, in con- 
nection, " His latest and most remarhible ex])loit 
on the plains, was enacted in 1853, when he 
conducted a di'ove of sheep safely to California." 
Probably the writer was one of those whose 
eager curiosity had met a rebuff, in the quiet 
dignity with which Carson received the officious- 
ness of the rabble who thronged around him on 
that visit. Not that he appreciated honor less, 
but that its unnecessary attachments were ex- 
ceedingly displeasing to him. 

In this terribly fast city, where the monte 
table, and its kindred dissipations, advertised 
themselves without a curtain, and where to in- 
dulge was the rule rather than the exception, 
Carson was able to stand iii^e, for he had been 
before now tried by much greater temptations. 

In the strange commingling of people from 
all quarters of the globe, whom Carson wit- 
nessed in San Francisco, he saw but a slight ex- 
aggeration of what he had often witnessed in 
Santa Fe, — and indeed, for the element of va- 
riety, in many a trapping party, not to name the 
summer rendezvous of the trappers, or the ex- 
ploring parties of Colonel Fremont. To be sure 
the Chinamen and the Kanackers were a new 
feature in society. But whether it be in the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 363 

many nationalities represented, or in the pleas- 
ures they pursued, except that in San Francisco 
there was a lavishness in the expenditure of 
wealth commensurate with its speedier ac- 
cumulation, there was little new to him, and 
while he saw its magic growth with glad sur- 
prise, the attractions this city offered could not 
allure him. Nor could the vista it opened up 
of a chance to rise into position in the advanc- 
ing struggles for political ascendency, induce 
one wish to locate his home in a spot so want- 
ing in the kindly social relationships; for he 
had tried the things and found them vanity and 
vexation of spirit, and now he yearned for his 
mountain home, and the sweet pastoral life 
which it afforded in his circle of tried friends. 

He saved the money he had secured by the 
sale of his flocks, and went dowQ overland to 
Los Angeles to meet Maxwell, who took the 
trip by sea, which Carson having tasted once, 
could not be persuaded to try again, and there 
renewing his outfit, and visiting again some of 
its honored citizens, they started homeward, 
and had a pleasant passage till they reached 
the Gila Kiver, where grass became so scarce that 
they were compelled to take a new course in 
order to find food for their horses ; but Carson 



364 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

had no difficulty in pursuing a measurably 
direct course, and without encountering a snow 
storm, often terribly severe in the mountains of 
this interior country, he reached Taos on the 
third of December 1853. 

He here received the unexpected information 
that he had been appointed Indian agent for 
New" Mexico, and immediately wrote and sent 
to Washington the bonds of acceptance of this 
office. And now commences Carson's official 
career, in a capacity for which he was better 
fitted than any other person in the Territory. 

Long had the Indians in his vicinity called 
him " father," but now he had a new claim to 
this title, for he was to be to them the almoner 
of the bounty of the United States Government. 
There was immediate call for the exercise of 
the duties of his office (for the Indians of New 
Mexico had all buried the tomahawk and calu- 
met), in visiting and attempting to quiet a band 
of Apaches, among whom he went alone, for 
they all knew him, and secured from them plenty 
of promises to do well ; but he had scarcely left 
them, before they were tired of the self-imposed 
restraint, and renewedly continued their depreda- 
tions, and several serious battles were fought 
with them by the United States troops, the first 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 365 

having proved unsuccessful, but never was 
success wanting when the commander of United 
States dragoons had placed his confidence in the 
advice, and followed the suggestions of Kit Car- 
son, who was admitted by them to be the prince 
of Indian fighters — though he never tolerated 
cruelty or the expenditure of life when there was 
no imperious necessity, but yet regarded severe 
measures better than a dawdling policy. 

There had been serious fights in New Mexico 
in 1846, while Carson was away with Fremont; 
and it was better so, as the Mexicans were his 
blood and kin ; yet, in the change of authority, 
he fully sympathized. But now, the enemy was 
the different tribes of Indians, and in the capac- 
ity of Agent for them, Carson chose to impress 
them with the power of the government for 
which he acted for their own good, that they 
might be induced to desist from their plunder- 
ing, and be prepared for the influences and prac- 
tises of civilization ; and all the victories secured 
over them were due, as history truly records 
^To the aid of Kit Carson," " With the advice^ 
j of Kit Carson ; " and never once is his name 
\associated with a defeat ; for, if he made a part' 
6i an expedition, a condition must be, that such 
means should be employed as he knew would 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

accomplisli tlie end desired ; for lie did not 
choose, by one single failure, to give the Indians 
a chance to think their lawlessness could escape 
its merited retribution. 

Nor yet did Carson ever advise that confi- 
dence in the promises of the Indians which was 
not backed by such exhibition of power as to 
command obedience ; knowing that with these 
children of the forest, schooled in the arts of 
plunder, and the belief that white men and 
white men's property were an intrusion on their 
hunting grounds, and therefore lawful prey — 
this was and is their laio — non-resistance would 
not answer, and only stem command, backed by 
the rifle, ever has secured obedience — though 
they appreciate the kindnesses done by those 
friends who have such reliance. But it was Car- 
son's opinion that the country cannot be safe 
while the Indians roam over it in this wild wav, 
or until they are located on lands devoted to 
them and theirs for permanent homes, and are 
compelled to settle upon and cultivate the soil, 
when he thinks they will come, by careful teach- 
ing, to display sentiments of responsibility for 
their own acts. 

There is little doubt that, had Carson been 
appointed Superintendent of Indian Affairs for 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 367 

the department of New Mexico, the reliance 
sometimes placed on treaties would have been 
discarded, and measures taken at an earlier date, 
to locate the Apaches and Camanches and Utahs, 
which might have been accomplished with less 
expenditure of blood and of treasure ; but he 
quietly pursued his business, relying upon the 
influence which his knowledge and skill had 
given him to induce his superiors in official 
authority to undertake such measures as seemed 
to him the wisest. 

The headquarters of his Indian agency were 
at Taos, and while he spent as much of his time 
as possible at Eayedo, the duties of his office 
compelled the larger part of it at Taos. The 
thousand kindly acts he was able to perform 
for the Indians, by whom he was constantly 
surrounded, had secured such regard for him- 
self that he needed no protection where he 
was known — and what Indian of New Mexico 
did not know him ? He went among them, 
and entertained them as the children of his 
charge, having their unbounded confidence and 
love. 

Every year, in the heyday of the season, Car- 
son continued the custom of a revival of earlier 
associations, by indulging, for a few days, or 



368 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

perhaps weeks, in the chase ; and was joined in 
these excursions by a goodly company of his old 
compeers, as well as later acquired friends, and 
men of reputation and culture, from whatever 
quarter of the world, visiting the territory ; and 
especially by a select few of the braves of the 
Indian tribes under his charge. These were 
seasons of grateful recurrence, and their pleasures 
were long anticipated amid the wearisome duties 
of his office. 

The incidents of his everyday life, interven- 
ing his appointment as Indian agent and the re- 
bellion, would furnish an abundance of material 
for a romance even stranger than fiction. A life 
so exciting as that among the Indians and brave 
frontiersmen, and a name so reno^vned as that 
of Christopher Carson, could not but attract 
and concenter wild and romantic occurrences. 
His life during these years is inseparably con- 
nected with the history of the Territory of New 
Mexico, which, could it be given to the public 
in all its copious and interesting details, Avould 
unquestionably concede to him all the noblest 
/characteristics in man. 

I The treaties between the United States anoN 
\ the Indians, during the term of his appointment/ 
\were mainly the result of his acquaintance with 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 369 

the Indians, his knowledge of their character, 
and his influence over them. Nor did the Gov- 
ernment fail to recognize his valuable services. 
During the rebellion, and while serving prin- 
cipally in New Mexico, where he distinguished 
himself by his untiring prosecution of hostilities 
with his savage foes, then at war with the Gov- 
ernment, he was promoted from rank to rank, 
until he finally reached that of Brevet Brigadier- 
General. 

In a report to the National headquarters, 
dated at Camp Florilla, near Fort Can by, N. M., 
January 26, 1864, we find the following detailed 
account of operations in New Mexico : 

"The culminating point in this expedition 

has been reached at last by the very successful 

operations of our troops at Canon de Chelly. 

Colonel Kit Carson left Fort Canby on the sixth 

instant with a command of four hundred men, 

twenty of whom were mounted. He had a 

section of mountain artillery with him, and 

taking the road via Puebla, Colorado, he started 

for Canon de Chelly. He gave orders to Captain 

Pheiffer with his command of one hundred men 

to enter the canon at the east opening, while he 

himself intended to enter it at the ' mouth,' or 

west opening, and by this movement he expected 
24 



370 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

that both columns would meet in the canon on 
the second day, as it was supposed to be forty 
miles in length. 

" Captain PheiJffer's party proceeded two days 
through the canon, fighting occasionally ; but al- 
though the Indians frequently fired on them from 
the rocky walls above, the balls were spent long 
before they reached the bottom of the canon, 
which, in many places, exceeded one thousand 
^ve hundred feet in depth. It was a singular 
spectacle to behold. A small detachment of 
troops moving cautiously along the bottom of 
one of the greatest canons on the globe (the 
largest is in Asia, I believe), and firing volleys 
upward at hundreds of Navajoes, who looked, 
on the dizzy height above them, like so many 
pigmies. As they advanced the canon widened 
in places, and various spots of cultivated land 
were passed, where wheat, maize, beans, melons, 
etc., had been planted last year ; while more 
than a thousand feet above their heads they 
beheld neat-looking stone houses built on the 
receding ledges of rocks, which reminded the be- 
holder of the swallows' nests in the house eaves, 
or on the rocky formation overhanging the * sea- 
beat caves.' Further on, an orchard contain- 
ing about six hundred peach-trees was passed, 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 37l 

and it was evident that the Indians had paid 
great attention to their culture. 

" On the second day a party from Colonel Car- 
son's column met the Captain in the canon, and 
returned with him to Colonel Carson's camp. A 
party from the Colonel's command had, in the 
meantime, attacked a party of Indians, twenty- 
two of whom were killed. This had a dispirit- 
ing effect on many others, who sent in three of 
their number under a white flag. Colonel Car- 
son received them, and assured them that the 
Government did not desire to exterminate them, 
but that, on the contrary, the President wished 
to save and civilize them ; and to that end Gen- 
eral Carlton had given him instructions to send all 
the Navajoes who desired peace to the new res- 
ervation on the Rio Pecos, where they would 
be supplied with food for the present, and be 
furnished with implements, seeds, etc., to culti- 
vate the soil. They departed well-satisfied, and 
Colonel Carson immediately ordered Captain 
A. B. Carey, Thirteenth United States Infantry, 
with a battalion to enter the canon, and make 
a thorough exploration of its various branches, 
and at the same time to be in readiness to chas- 
tise any body of hostile Navajoes he might en- 
counter, and to receive all who were friendly, 



372 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

and who wished to emigrate to the new reser- 
vation. Captain Carey during a passage of 
twenty-four hours through a branch of the 
canon hitherto unexplored, made an exact geo- 
graphical map of this temble chasm, and dis- 
covered many side canons hitherto unknown. 
About one hundred Indians came in to him and 
declared that ' the Navajo nation was no more ; ' 
that they were tired of fighting and nearly 
stai^ved, and that they wished to be permitted 
to advise their friends and families in the moun- 
tains ; many of whom were willing to leave the 
land forever, and go to a country where they 
would be cared for and protected. They said 
they understood agriculture, and were certain 
they would make comfortable homes on the 
Pecos. This was, of course, only the opinion 
of some ; others would prefer to remain and cul- 
ture the soil on which they were born, and live 
at peace with the territory. However, the latter 
were positively informed that unless they were 
willing to remove they had better not come in, 
and, moreover, that the troops would destroy 
every blade of corn in the country next summer. 
" On the 20th of January Colonel Carson 
came to Fort Canby, and about six hundred 
Indians had collected there ; but when the 



LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 373 

wagons arrived to remove them only one hun- 
dred wished to go, and the remainder desired 
to return to their villages and caves in the 
mountains, on pretense of bringing in some 
absent member of their families. Colonel Car- 
son very nobly and generously permitted them 
to choose for themselves ; but told them if 
ever they came in again they should be sent to 
^&p^e Redondo, whether willing or not. Col- 
onel Carson himself took the Indians to Santa 
Fe, and will remain absent about a month. 
Since his departure many Indians came in and 
agreed to go to the reservation. 

" I think the Colonel foresaw this, as no per- 
son understands Indian character better than he 
does. Captain A. B. Carey, Thirteenth Infantry, 
commanding in his absence, will see that all 
Indians coming in will be removed, and, I think, 
before April next, if the present good feeling 
exists, we shall have accomplished the removal 
of the entire tribe. Captain A. B. Carey, after 
successfully marching through the canon and 
noting its topography, reached Fort Canby on 
the eighteenth instant, and relieved Captain 
Francis M'Cabe, First New Mexico Cavalry, 
who commanded in the absence of Colonel Kit 
Carson. 



374 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

'' As the Navajo expedition is now entirely 
successful, it is but justice to the officers and 
men of the First Cavalry of New Mexico, and 
to Colonel Christopher Carson and his staff to say 
that they have all acted with zeal and devotion 
for the accomplishment of that great desidera- 
tum — the removal of the Navajoes. Cut off 
from the enjoyments of civilized life, deprived 
of its luxuries, comforts, and even many of its 
necessaries, and restricted to the exploration of 
a wilderness and the castigation of an army of 
savages, who defied them, and endeavored to 
find a shelter among the cliffs, groves, and 
canons of their country ; in pursuing them to 
their haunts they have encountered appalling 
difficulties, namely : want of water, grass, and 
fuel ; often exposed to the merciless fury of the 
elements, and to the bullets and arrows of a 
hidden foe. In the face of these difficulties they 
have discovered new rivers, springs, and moun- 
tains in a region hitherto unexplored, and pene- 
trated by companies into the very strongholds 
of the enemy, who fled farther west as our 
columns advanced, and on various occasions the 
dismounted cavalry have, by rapid and unpar- 
alleled night marches, surprised that enemy, 
capturing his camp and securing his flocks and 



LIFE OP KIT CARSON. 375 

herds, at a time when he imagined himself far 
beyond our reach, and really when he occupied 
a country never before trodden by the foot of a 
white man. 

" Much of the credit is due to the perseverance 
and courage of Colonel Kit Carson, command- 
ing the expedition, whose example excited all 
to great energy, and inspired great resolution ; 
but it may not be oat of place to remark that it 
is now demonstrated beyond a doubt that, while 
the troops of New Mexico have long borne the 
reputation of being the best cavalry, they have 
proved themselves in the present campaign to 
be the best infantry in the world. 

" General James H. Carlton, who knows, per- 
haps, and understands the material for an army 
as well as any General in our army, has directed 
the formation of a New-Mexican Brigade, and 
when the savage foe is removed, that Brigade, 
commanded by Brigadier-General Kit Carson, 
would surely reflect credit on the Territory and 
on the Department Commander." 

After the close of the war Christopher Carson 
continued in the employ of the Government, 
rendering such services as only one equally 
skilled and experienced could render, until his 
death. He died at Fort Lyon, Colorado, on the 



376 LIFE OF KIT CARSON. 

23d of May, 1868, from the effects of the rupture 
of an artery, or probably an aneurism of an 
artery, in the neck. But a few weeks previous 
he had visited Washington on a treaty mission, 
in company with a deputation of red men, and 
made a tour of several of the Northern and 
Eastern cities. 

In his death the country has lost the most 
noted of that intrepid race of mountaineers, 
trappers, and guides that have ever been tlie 
pioneers of civilization in its advancement west- 
ward. As an Indian fighter he was matchless. 
His rifle, when fired at a redskin, never failed 
him, and the number that fell beneath his aim, 
who can tell ! (The identical rifle which Carson 
used in all his scouts, during the last thirty-five 
years of his life, he bequeathed, just previous to 
his death, to Montezuma Lodge, A. F. and A. M., 
Santa Fe, of which he was a member.) The 
coimtry will always regard him as a perfect 
representative of the American frontiersman, 
and accord to him the most daring valor, con- 
sistent kindliness, perseverant energy and truth- 
fulness which that whole great territory, that 
we must still regard as lying between the civili- 
zations, is capable of furnishing. 

THE END. 



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